The Final Draft
by TENDERvanilla
Summary: AU; In a quest to find something more than destiny, she winds up with him. Scandals can run rampant in and out of the office. And she's right in the middle of it. SasuHina
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** No ownage whatsoever of any characters or things related to Naruto.

* * *

Hinata gulped audibly as she sat adjacent to her editor-in-chief. His piercing onyx eyes scanned her article quickly but critically.

Rumor had it that he could make a woman swoon, cry, and as pliant as putty in his hands all at once. His eyes could make a grown man still as stone, and if anyone turned in an article that wasn't up to par with his standards, he would crumple it right in front of the person, throw it in the face of the unfortunate soul (the paper would always, _always _ricochet perfectly into the wastebasket), and have him cleaning out his desk before lunchtime.

Hyuuga Hinata was across from death himself, the editor-in-chief of the immensely popular entertainment magazine _Konoha_ _Heat_, Uchiha Sasuke.

Running her article through her head, she supposed it decent enough for her first. She liked it, at least. It covered a side of the adult actress Mikashima Hoshi, who starred in the movie adaptation of the _Icha Icha Paradise _series that most others would have never thought someone like her would have. Not that Hinata partook in such movies like the one that Mikashima-san had starred in, but she never thought that a woman that starred in such a scandalous movie would be so likeable.

The clack of papers straightening on Uchiha Sasuke's fine mahogany desk rapped Hinata from her thoughts.

"Lukewarm, at best."

Hinata's heart sank in fear, and she opened her mouth to tell him herself that she'd go clean out her desk and be out before ten to lessen the humiliation.

"But I suppose I'll have to accept it. Congratulations, Hyuuga Hinata, you've been given another chance. My shredder has seen better, but I've yet to feed your work to it. Now I suggest you close that pretty little mouth of yours and find a way to not disappoint me next time," Sasuke languidly, almost tiresomely, drawled.

Hinata let out an astonished gasp, jumped out of her chair, and deeply bowed in gratitude.

"T-Thank you, Uchiha-sama. I won't let you down next time." And promptly left the room, almost barreling over Naruto.

There were flustered muffles of apology and repeated "It's okay, Hinata-chan! I'm all right," outside his door and Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed quiet exasperation. He was as transparent as glass, that Naruto.

"You can come in, Naruto."

Naruto slipped in with a sheepish grin plastered on his face, and slid into the seat Hinata previously occupied.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "So, how long were you out there, poking your nose into other people's business?"

"Enough to know you didn't fire her, even though you had just let go two other mid-seasoned girls today already, and she was just a newbie," Naruto answered with a smirk. Reaching over and pulling out Hinata's article from under Sasuke's elbow, he skimmed over it to see exactly what possessed a demon like Sasuke to let a lamb like Hinata get a "second chance."

"I need articles for this month's release," Sasuke answered curtly. "Besides, she didn't come in with her blouse unbuttoned three down."

"Three down, huh…" Naruto answered absentmindedly, and mumbled something like "Never thought Mikashima and rock-collecting would go in the same sentence together without the mention of a precious gem."

"Engrossed, are you?"

Naruto waved away Sasuke's words with a hand. "Yeah, yeah, just lemme finish this. I just never knew that that Mikashima could be so…so _tame_. I mean, have you seen her in the movie? _Wild_, that one was. You should have seen how far that guy went do—"

"Naruto…Get out."

* * *

It was lunchtime, and all Hinata could do was stare into her neatly packed bento, with her chopsticks hanging limply between her thumb and forefinger.

She finally looked up when Sakura nudged her arm, asking her what was wrong.

"He gave you a second chance, didn't he? You should know, he rarely ever does that. He just goes off and fires them on the spot."

Hinata sighed again and nudged around an octopus weenie. "I know, but…He's really…really…Tough," Hinata finished, somewhat lamely. Hinata knew her line, as he was her boss, but he was tough, and much more. He was stone-cold. He was frightening. He was…

"A bit of a jerk, too, and working with Sasuke for all these years, I know he can be a hard person to please. But I also know that you don't give up so easily, Hinata."

"That's right! With me at your side and being Sasuke's right-hand man, I could, you know, pull some strings here and here if you ever need it," a familiar, confident, and a bit obnoxious voice boomed to Hinata's right. Naruto placed a warm hand on her shoulder, as if to reassure his friend she wouldn't fail.

Sakura gave Naruto an accusing glance and half shouted, "And I also I know that Hinata would never want her friends to mess around in her career!"

Naruto shot Sakura an equally forceful glare. "I'm trying to help Hinata! What, you want her fired so there would be no chance of competition? Think that Sasuke let Hinata stay because he's _sweet on her_?"

"What? I want no such thing!" Sakura spluttered, outraged, with color rising in her cheeks.

Hinata blushed and gave a small giggle. "Thank you, Naruto, but I feel as if this is my own challenge to take on." Looking at him, all sunshine with so much vibrancy, so much faith in her lifted Hinata's spirits a little. Standing up, she closed her bento and gathered her things.

"I suppose I should get back to work now. My lunch hour's over."

* * *

The streetlights had long flickered on when Hinata finally walked out of the building that day. Under all the thoughts and pressure that weighed her down, she treaded slowly, with a glazed look in her eye. It wasn't so much the chance, but _what_ to do with the chance that had Hinata mulling. If she failed again, her father would have her packing back to Hyuuga Corporation, a prestigious company that has been in the family for ages, widely known for its specialty aromatic teas. But Hinata had refused a seat as an executive, as her hands were made for writing. The Hyuuga family was meticulous, skilled, and all-powerful. They had been doing the same thing for hundreds of years, hundreds of years of success and glory. There was no room for Hinata's soft-spoken ways.

"You shouldn't walk around like that with that look on your face, Hyuuga. Makes people think you're an easy target, if you get my drift."

Hinata nearly jumped in surprised, and swiveled around to see Sasuke leaving the building also.

"Uchiha-sama!" She bowed in respect.

"Walking home, I'd stay away from dark alleys if I were you. You never know what kind of people are hiding in it, especially in this district of Konoha."

Hinata's cheeks reddened, and she became flustered. "Ah! Thank you for your concern, Uchiha-sama. I just live a few blocks away." She bowed again in gratitude as Uchiha Sasuke sped off in his sleek, midnight car.

So ends her day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** No ownage whatsoever of any characters or things related to Naruto.

* * *

The calm before the storm, Naruto liked to call it.

Before the ladies of Konoha Heat (who yearned for more than just the editor-in-chief's favor) rushed in, pushing one another and squeezing in the front doors just to deliver the perfect cup of steaming hot coffee and the most delicious packet of cookies to Uchiha Sasuke, the building was extremely quiet. Not a single gaggle of ladies standing to gossip, not one frantic shout about not being able to finish up an article, no muttering about how dreamy or how much of a jackass the boss was (unless Naruto was taken into account, but Naruto was Naruto).

Of course, to beat even the most tenacious of Sasuke's admirers, one would have to wake very early, and not many was up for such a task, with the exception of Sasuke himself, Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata.

Personally, Hinata enjoyed the hour that the calm lasted. Work was less hectic, and she had the freedom of working at a more leisurely pace, and to have a tranquil sip of tea or even visit and have a quick chat with Naruto or Sakura in between. Oftentimes Naruto would bounce over and distract her with his antics, and then Sakura would come over to reprimand him about not letting Hinata finish her work, leading to the two bickering, and Hinata would just giggle the whole hour away at the outrageous comebacks Naruto threw.

As for Sasuke, he would lock himself up in his office. As usual.

It was like any other calm, with Naruto and Sakura at Hinata's desk. Except for one anomaly.

"You're awfully late today, Sasuke. Had to let myself in." Naruto flashed a key, probably pilfered from Sasuke's desk drawer, Hinata speculated. "What happened to being the first one up here," Naruto leered, relishing in the fact that even perfect Sasuke erred and skived off schedule.

Emerging from the elevator, Sasuke only grunted in reply, and slammed the door to his office after entering, the sound tearing into the peaceful silence, making Hinata jump.

"He's not a real morning person," Naruto said to Hinata, sounding almost like a mother apologizing for her child's rudeness. His voice held a hint of mockery. "That Sasuke, he's a real handful. I don't know what to do with him," said Naruto, with his hands on his hips, and his tongue sticking out at Sasuke's door.

"Naruto!" Sakura admonished, but a twinkle was apparent in her green eyes. Looking in the direction of Sasuke's door, she sighed. "Sometimes, I worry about him though. Twenty-two, and already the editor-in-chief of your own company. Must be tough."

Naruto didn't seem to think of it much, however. "Yeah, well, at least he's got us, right Hinata?"

Hinata only gave a distant nod. She, at least, had some idea of what Sasuke must be going through. At the age of eighteen, she was already supposed to be leading Hyuuga Corporation. The pressure, the expectation, and the cautious, yet risky game one had to play—it was all overwhelming and could drown a person, and sometimes, it all felt like no one else could assuage the pain. But that was three years ago, and Hinata had dodged that obstacle.

Just then, the elevator doors went off with a sharp_ ping_, and slid open to reveal the first two of Sasuke's admirers of the day.

It was a new day, and with new hope in their eyes and fresh, piping hot coffee from Mug o' Leaves, they noisily sauntered past Hinata's desk, constantly checking each other's hair and makeup, into the direction of Sasuke's office.

Naruto glanced at his watch. "It's that time again. Expect the rush soon, girls." He slid off the desk he was lounging on. "I better go, ah, 'entertain' them, y' know, for Sasuke's sake. Or what sanity he has left."

Hinata and Sakura gave a quiet laugh behind their hands.

"Well, the day is starting. I better go. Oh, and…Have you figured out what your next article will be about?" Sakura left with a wink and an encouraging smile, but Hinata's stomach dropped like a stone.

Another reason why she liked her early mornings: it allowed her, even if only for an hour, to forget all her troubles. But once the day started, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

Hinata attempted to resume work (What was she working on again?), but thoughts about her next article (which, she mortifyingly noted, was due in two weeks) kept rearing its ugly head, often breaking her concentration, and she would stop and ponder over what to do. To others, it seemed like Hyuuga Hinata was either unwell or possibly suffering from a hangover, and they often waved a hand in front of her to shake her out of her reverie, asking her if she was all right or if she had "Been hitting those drinks a little hard, eh Hinata?"

After she had decided it enough was enough, Hinata rose to go to the staff room for a quick sip of tea to sooth her nerves.

It was in the staff room that she found Sasuke alone pouring out what she noticed was the cream-colored coffee from Mug o' Leaves into the sink.

She bade him a good morning, to which he didn't answer. His face was furrowed into a deep scowl, and Hinata didn't know what he was angrier at: the coffee, the woman who brought him the coffee, or the woman who stood in the room with him at the moment.

"Do you not like coffee, Uchiha-sama?"

"It was poisoned, spiked with a date drug in an attempt to pacify me for uses I would never have submitted to awake," said Sasuke matter-of-factly.

Hinata's eyes widened the size of saucers.

"A joke," he said. But unlike Naruto, when the joke was over, there were no sheepish grins or mirthful twinkles. Sasuke smirked. "I wonder, would you have accepted a drugged drink if I seemed honest enough? It was only sweet as malt, Hyuuga, and unfortunately for whoever gave me this drink, I have no sweet tooth."

"Oh. O-okay," she gulped, and hurriedly busied herself with making a cup of tea, before Sasuke could make another jab at her.

But it didn't stop Hinata from peering over her shoulder to look at Sasuke, who was now pouring himself a cup of strong black coffee. Was he really just as bitter as the coffee he drank, or was it work that often had him on the edge, Hinata wondered. Perhaps, if she hadn't refused her position as a Hyuuga, she would have ended up like him, a grumpy workaholic who was mean and rough…

"Uchiha-sama, do you…Do you ever wish you could run away?" Her musings had tumbled out of her before she could even stop herself. It was a bit personal, maybe even out of line.

He appeared to have not have heard her, as he continued to sip his mug of coffee.

Grabbing her tea, Hinata started to walk out of the room with her head bowed, hoping that maybe he really didn't hear her and she could just slip out unnoticed. But right when she was at the doorway, she stopped.

"I don't run away," he huskily answered. And he swept past her with a lingering stare.

Hinata let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.

It still didn't answer her question.

* * *

Time moved by quickly, not only when you are having fun, but also when there was a deadline with an axe that could possibly behead you, Hinata thought somberly at lunchtime. She rubbed her temples. Her next article was due in a week and a day, she had yet to think of a topic that could convince Sasuke she was serious stuff, and not a lightweight newbie.

Naruto was on her right with his feet propped on the table, shuffling through the weekly newspaper, and scarfing down his ramen. Sakura

"Hey, hey! Hinata! You could do an article on Cloud Nine! He's coming to sing in Konoha next week! Says he'll be on concert Monday, and will be here all week."

Hinata, never being one on the largest fads, asked, "Who exactly is he?"

"Dunno, but I think Sakura told me that he's pretty popular with the ladies. Heh, could prove to be some competition for Sasuke, don't you think?"

Hinata was still not convinced. "Do you think he's good enough to actually impress Sasuke?"

"Well, he better be, judging on the price of his tickets. Is that three zeros I see?"

Hinata beamed at Naruto and felt as if she could just kiss him.

The worst was over. Now, it was time to get the ball rolling.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** No ownage whatsoever of any characters or things related to Naruto.

* * *

Hinata nervously fidgeted in the backseat of the taxi. Her jittery hands went from straightening her hair, to smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles in her blouse, and brushing the microscopic pieces of dust on her knee-length skirt, to finally settling themselves, with thumbs still twiddling, onto her lap.

Hinata mentally checked off her list of all the things she would need to make this a fruitful interview, from her favorite pen, down to all the questions that she had meticulously prepared beforehand to ask the famous Cloud Nine. Sakura and Naruto had been kind enough to supply her with some advice prior.

Perfection, that was Uchiha Sasuke demanded from all those working under him.

According to Naruto, the perfection that Sasuke was looking for included dazzling fireworks and surreal illusion. Or, in other words, be as unorthodox as possible.

"Approach him as if you were one of Sasuke's fangirls, Hinata. You have to pounce on him, throw all your sense into the wind, attack with your eyes closed, bite with tooth and nail. Don't just ask Cloud Nine those mundane questions like 'What's your biggest inspiration,' ask him things like 'What is your opinion on frying bacon naked,' or what kind of lingerie he prefers to wear in broad daylight," Naruto had told her sagely at lunchtime last week.

"Um, Naruto-kun, I don't think that would give him the right idea…" Hinata had desperately replied with a blush staining her cheeks.

But he did not appear to have heard her, as he continued: "Believe me Hinata, people eat up this kind of information. If the public likes it, Sasuke can't object."

The advice that Sakura gave, after throwing Naruto a dirty look that told Hinata to not take what he said seriously was a bit less radical.

"Sasuke likes articles to be intriguing, not full of trash. He wants them classy, but not boring. Unique, but not outlandish. You can ask him anything you want, Hinata, just remember to make it count towards an article that is intriguing, classy, and unique."

Hinata took a deep breath of air, swelling with fierce determination.

Perfection: it was exactly what she had to be in order to reach such a goal.

But as Hinata let the air out of her lungs and she deflated, her determination did, also.

From her father's past bitter, disappointed sighs, Hinata knew that she was far from perfection. The cold knowledge that she was anything but perfect sagged in the pit of the stomach. Her father had always told her that was a bumbling, clumsy girl with her had always in the clouds, and drilled training into her twice as hard to make up for her shortcomings and mold her into a perfect leader for the company.

"Hey lady, we're here."

The driver's gruff voice punctured Hinata's thoughts and she glanced out the window to find herself in front of a ritzy hotel that was so tall that it blocked out the sun behind it. All of the bulbs on the extravagant sign that made the hotel's presence known (not that visitors would have missed the fifty story building with all the palm trees and sparkling fountains that surrounded it) were off, as the sun was up right at the moment, but Hinata was sure that at night, all the bulbs and the whole sign itself reading "The Amber Leaf: Making Everyone Feel Like Five Stars" would light up the whole street with its luminosity.

Although she, in her younger life with the Hyuuga family, had visited other more formidable hotels in which business meetings and formals took place in, The Amber Leaf was actually quite impressive. Before even entering, guests are entranced, as if by hypnosis by a large fountain featuring a statue of a tennyo, her face the epitome of serenity and beauty, with water shooting upwards in elegant streams out of the lotus blossoms that surrounded her. The men dressed in crimson red satin with shining gold buttons opening the gleaming glass doors for guests gave the sense of being pampered, slyly coaxing those who wanted more to stay a night or two.

"Look, I know it's pretty, but are you going to keep gawking or are you going to pay me, lady?"

"Oh! I-I'm sorry!"

Flustered, Hinata hurriedly dug through her purse to find her wallet, and discovered to her horror that her favorite pen had exploded, and blots of blue ink that stained the new notepad that she had brought along, were now staining her hands.

Hinata handed him his money, at his face soured at due to the spots of ink that had smeared from her hands, but instantly crinkled into a sickeningly fake smile when Hinata told him he could keep the change, which was worth a good twenty ryo.

After clambering out and stumbling on her heels, Hinata approached the glass doors. A bellhop smiled at her as she stepped into the lobby, and she made a beeline into a restroom to clean her blue inky hands.

Sadly tearing out stained pages of her notebook in the empty restroom, Hinata began to feel nervousness settle into the stomach. The perfect interview to a perfect article had to have a prefect beginning, and so far, nothing was going perfect. What if this was the prelude to a disaster, Hinata thought mournfully. Perhaps it would be best if she gave up on the famous Cloud Nine, and go interview someone else, someone that was not as intimidatingly popular…

She quickly shook those thoughts out of her. It was not like her to be thinking of such thoughts. It was simply not her way to go back on something she set her heart to, especially a special chance that Naruto himself helped her find.

Gathering her courage and things, Hinata strode out of the women's room and straight to the front desk.

"I'm Hyuuga Hinata, from Konoha Heat. I would like to talk to Cloud Nine, please."

"Very well, please allow a moment for me to contact them," said the man behind the counter as he picked up a phone.

Hinata smiled inwardly. Not a single stutter in the last sentence. It was not so hard, after all. She was only moments away from meeting Cloud Nine, and then she could finally get started on the article that had been sagging on her mind. Perhaps she could even enjoy the interview with Cloud Nine.

After a few moments on the phone with who Hinata supposed was Cloud Nine's manager, the man hung up and turned to Hinata.

"The manager will be down shortly to assist you."

Hinata nodded a quiet "Thank you" and seated herself on one of the large, majestic squishy armchairs in the lobby, until a man rushed out of the elevator claiming to be looking for someone named Hyuuga Hinata in a squeaky voice. It was the manager.

When Hinata presented herself to him, he enthusiastically shook her hand.

He was a short, balding man, sporting thick, round glasses that magnified his watery eyes. He seemed to be one of those people who were constantly moving, always nervous and jittery, restless because there was never time to rest. Being Cloud Nine's manager, Hinata had no doubt that he often had to run around and do much for him. He was surprisingly soft-spoken and a little timid, traits that reminded Hinata of herself.

He smiled nervously at Hinata.

"I a-apologize for not being more p-prompt. It's just that Jiro—well, you know him as Cloud Nine—he's having some g-guests over, and I didn't want to trouble you in finding the suite yourself."

"Oh, it's fine!" Hinata blushed, flattered at his thoughtfulness.

Hinata was a bit disheartened though, at the fact that Cloud Nine had guests over. She disliked having an audience while interviewing. It made her uncomfortable.

In the elevator, the manager continued to anxiously babble on about how the tour was going with Jiro, about how "energy-draining and intense the tour was going so far," and how he allowed Jiro a week to enjoy in Konoha even with the tight schedule.

Had Hinata been listening, she would have thought the manager to be a very kind, caring man. But she only caught bits and pieces of what he was saying, as she was getting lost in the old feeling of nervousness again. The task of interviewing Jiro, or the celebrity Cloud Nine, had just gotten harder, now that she knew she was going to have an audience, and rescheduling was not an option.

"Well, here we are, at the penthouse suite. I hope you enjoy yourself and have a good time." The manager smiled at her cheerfully. "Now, I must go and see how the preparations for Cloud Nine's performance are coming along! Until we meet again, Hyuuga Hinata!"

He gave a low bow and stepped back into the elevator just as the door was closing, leaving Hinata alone in the empty corridor.

Already, Hinata could hear the hard beats seeping through the door. It sounded like Cloud Nine was having quite a party with his guests. She wondered whether or not he would hear her knocking on the door.

With her knuckles, she gave three sharp raps against the sturdy cherrywood door, and was greeted by none other than Cloud Nine himself.

"We've been expecting you Hyuuga Hinata. Please, come in."

Hinata had heard much about the famed Cloud Nine last week at work from her fellow lady co-workers, and she concluded that the one thing that all the ladies unanimously agreed on was that his looks were as dreamy as his voice. He had a face carved by the gods themselves, with a strong chin, but soft cheekbones. He was graced with skin a satin tan, long, beautiful blond hair that cascaded down to his shoulder blades, and a killer smile. And best yet, his voice was smooth, creamy, and rich (although Naruto commented that it sounded more like they were describing a chocolate bar), and could sweep any woman off her feet.

Cloud Nine was suave, with impressive looks. And with a voice like that, it was no wonder the man was popular; he was certainly talented. Or incredibly lucky.

When Hinata stepped inside, she coughed, choking at the acrid whirlwind of smells that overwhelmed her senses. The lights were dim, and the smoky room made things even harder to see. Through the haze, Hinata could smell the room reeking of booze and tobacco.

"Make yourself at home, Hyuuga Hinata. 'The more the merrier,' after all. Ah, where are my manners."

He cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the people scattered around the room, who were raucously downing bottles of gin and saucers of sake and scarfing down gyoza and pickled daikon. Everyone immediately quieted down and turned in the direction of Hinata.

"Everyone, this is Miss Hyuuga Hinata. Let's all be gentlemen and make sure she has a _good time_ with us, ne?"

The room erupted into cheers and whoops of agreement.

Cloud Nine turned back to Hinata. "These guys are my friends, from the modeling agency I used to work for, you see. They're a rowdy bunch, but they're really quite friendly. Please, sit down."

"I see. Th-thank you, um, Cloud Nine-san." She cautiously settled for a seat in the couch in the middle of the room, the only open space available. Hinata could sense the eyes of the others boring into her. With an amused expression on their faces, they whispered excitedly to their companions and hid delighted smirks behind their sips of beer.

"You may call me Jiro, there is no need for formalities. " He had his back to Hinata, pouring what looked like a bottle of exquisite burgundy wine into two glasses.

Jiro handed her one of the glasses and held his own high into the air. His luscious voice, as ladies proclaimed, filled the room. "A toast! To our new friend Hinata-san! Kanpai!"

Jiro's guests raised their own filled glass, and many booming "Kanpai!" followed. Some even banged their chopsticks on their glasses to further show their enthusiasm. Everyone, including Jiro, raised the bottoms of their cup, and downed all of the contents.

Not wanting to come off as haughty or rude, Hinata timidly raised her glass a few inches, her face beet red. "K-kanpai!"

She lowered the glass to her lips and took a small sip before Sasuke's words that morning in the staff room eerily crawled into her mind.

"_I wonder, would you have accepted a drugged drink if I seemed honest enough?"_

At that, Hinata promptly placed her glass onto the coffee table in front of her. She tried tasting the remnants of the small sip she took to see if anything tasted strange, but found nothing. However, she did not plan on further indulging. There were business matters at hand, Hinata quickly reminded herself. It was not some fete she was just partaking in. Hinata also reminded herself that she was not known for her ability to be able to hold her alcohol.

The room was getting swelteringly hot, the smoke was blending into her vision, and the faces around her were starting to become mere shadows in the dim light. Her head was beginning to hum.

"So, Hinata-san…" Jiro was starting to sound a bit snake-like, more different than the smooth voice that women adored him for. He slid into the seat next to Hinata, right on the very same couch. He was close, perhaps a bit too close for Hinata's comfort, as he was only an arm's length away. "What brings a _princess_ like _you_ around these neck of the woods?"

An uneasy jolt travelled up her spine, and she glanced away from Jiro's murky brown eyes.

Everyone in the room was transfixed on Jiro and Hinata, interested more so on what Jiro's next move was than Hinata's answer. She became acutely aware that in the whole room, there was no other female.

"W-well, I'm here from the magazine Konoha Heat, and I was hoping to interview you for an article."

"Ah, Konoha Heat. The manager told me something about that. The one run by Uchiha Sasuke, am I correct?"

"Yes, that's one."

"He hasn't been overworking you, has he? No unpaid overtime, no…Undesirable favors?"

Cloud Nine leaned in closer, as if to examine the damage that Hinata could have sustained under the tyranny of Sasuke's management. Hinata scooted closer to the armrest at her end of the couch, but he pressed on, and she felt the side of their thighs touch.

Hinata gulped.

"N-no, none at all! In fact, he's really kind, and…and…not demanding at all!"

"Is that so? You know, Hinata-san, you have very peculiar eyes. The kind that is so mesmerizing that a man could be enraptured for ages and not care," said Cloud Nine, huskily.

Cloud Nine was now close enough for Hinata to smell the alcohol on his breath. Hinata attempted a weak smile. She was at a loss as to what to say or what to do.

"Flattery w-will get you nowhere, J-jiro-san," Hinata squeaked.

She heard guffaws from around the room. Even Jiro's eyes shined with mirth and his lips were curved upwards into smirk.

"Humor. Honest humor. I like that in a girl."

Somewhere from the crowd someone shouted, "Hey Jiro, you should ask her if she's got a boyfriend!"

Chortles were heard from the boys, and then some started to actually encourage it.

"Yeah, Jiro! See if she's 'bought good_s_'!"

The room howled with laughter, but simmered down when Jiro held a hand up.

"Now now, boys, be nice! But _do tell_, Hinata-san."

Jiro's eyes stared penetratingly into Hinata's own. Hinata was just about to open her mouth and was in the midst of deciding to either scream or reply politely when there was a knock at the door.

"Um, Jiro-kun?" It was the manager's voice.

"So sorry to have bothered you, Jiro-kun, but your presence is requested at the Konoha Stadium to discuss how you want the fireworks at the end of the concert to go."

Jiro sighed, frustrated like a child that had to part from his game too early for his liking.

"Very well, then. I'll meet you downstairs in the lobby in fifteen minutes."

"I'll see you then!" The manager replied cheerily.

Cloud Nine finally stood up, and as the cushions stopped sagging from under his weight, relief washed over her as her body unclenched itself.

"So sorry, Hinata-san, that you didn't get any work done. But I am requested elsewhere. You can't have me all to yourself!" Jiro winked.

All of Jiro's friends signed in despair, forlorn that the fun had to be over when it was just beginning.

"I know boys. We'll all miss Hinata-san. Ah! I'll make it up to you, Hinata-san. This Friday night I shall be celebrating my final night in Konoha at the club Leaves on Fire. You can find me there, and I will answer any question you throw at me. Now run along, Hinata-san, and I will see you Friday night."

He ushered Hinata out the doorway and closed it after she had stepped out, leaving her feeling a bit like a helpless child who had no idea what to do.

Although she was overjoyed to finally be breathing fresh air again, the hollow, empty feeling of having nothing accomplished was starting to haunt her. Now that she thought about it, Sasuke usually set his deadlines on Friday. Whether it was turned in at six in the morning or a minute before midnight, Sasuke made it clear by the piece of ordinary paper that had the words "FRIDAY OR ELSE", written in what looked eerily like blood, tacked to the staff bulletin board that he wanted his articles handed into him within the twenty-four hours that Friday lasted.

Getting into the taxi with the exact same driver that afternoon when she left the hotel was solid proof that Hinata had not advanced anywhere off the square she was on this morning.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** No ownage whatsoever of any characters or things related to Naruto.

* * *

"Hey! Hinata-chan, you're back!"

It was the first thing she heard as the gleaming elevator doors slid open. Jerking her eyes away from her retreating somber reflection in the doors, she saw Naruto, running up to her at breakneck speed, his arms outstretched.

Before she knew it, Hinata was enthusiastically being pulled out of the elevator by the wrist, with Naruto chattering to her at a speed that rendered him incomprehensible to Hinata.

"I'm _so_ glad you're back, you know, we didn't expect you to come back today, thought you might have needed the whole day to thoroughly get the nasty bits on that guy. Anyway, you wouldn't _believe_ the amount of work that Sakura's piling up on my desk, that crazy girl, she won't even let me take bathroom breaks!"

"W-wait, Naruto—"

"But now that you're back, you can help me hide from the she-devil! Or at least be a good excuse for me to leave my desk. Sakura can't say no if I tell her that you needed a little help from me, and personally, I don't mind, either! Anyway—"

The avalanche of Naruto's words suddenly ceased as he sniffed the air.

"Hey, Hinata, do you…Do you smell tobacco? This whole place is supposed to be non smoking zone."

Hinata's stomach plunged like a stone. The scent of the smoky room that Cloud Nine had stayed in was still on her. Knowing Naruto, he might take it the wrong way, and he never took no for an answer. Hinata remembered when slandering tabloids had posted something about Sasuke making a secret visit to a local gay bar. Naruto had so loudly announced it that by lunchtime, the men were giggling and the women were blushing. But before anyone even had the chance to punch out for the day, Sasuke had made it clear that it was certainly not him being straddled by the rather large, beefy man in the picture. Naruto, however, still prodded him about it every week, and kept the front page tacked proudly to his bulletin board.

Hinata tried to think of something, anything to say that would snag and reel Naruto's attention elsewhere.

"Um, Naruto-kun, don't you think we're being a little…distracting, just standing here like this? I mean, people are working."

She nervously chewed at her lip. For someone as spontaneous as Naruto, it would have been better to tell him Sasuke was coming out of the restroom with toilet paper stuck under his shoe, or even better, his pants. He would have surely dropped whatever he was talking about for something like that.

"Nonsense! It's chaos here every day!"

"Yes, and it doesn't help when you _add_ to it, Naruto!"

Hinata and Naruto both swiftly turned their heads to Sakura, who had just appeared right next to them, looking like she could breathe fire out of her nostrils any second.

Naruto visibly wilted for a moment under her fiery jade stare.

"Well, Hinata-chan just got back, and I really missed her! At least she doesn't deny me of my right to go to the restroom under the punishment of getting the daylights knocked out of me," he tried reasoning before Sakura had seized the chance to carry out his punishment.

"Naruto, you know full well how busy things are for us whenever that time of the month rolls around." Sakura's glare softened to look wearier, but never lost its hard edge as it bore into Naruto.

"Oh…I…I understand perfectly." Naruto looked solemn, as if he truly understood and was remorseful for the extent of his antics. He turned to whisper to Hinata behind a concealing hand.

"It's probably that 'time of the month' that's making her all moody like this, also." He gave her a secret wink.

Hinata raised her own hand to her moth to suppress a giggle and hide a grin.

However, those words were not eluded to Sakura, for the color and the anger returned her cheeks and eyes.

"NARUTO!" She screeched, her hands clawing at the locks of pink on her head.

"Now now, you wouldn't want to be a distraction to all the good people working here, would you?" Naruto looked innocent, but the upturned corners of his mouth said he was delighted that he never failed to get a rise out of Sakura.

"You. Are. Impossible." She breathed out slowly, her hands were now rubbing her temples, as it was much less destructive to her scalp and image than pulling out her hair.

It was then that Hinata decided to intervene before Naruto wanted to do some more damage—which Hinata was sure that it was what he had in mind—and cause some real damage to himself, Sakura, and the office. She was sure that if provoked enough, Sakura would not hesitate in upturning desks and chairs to inflict pain on Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, could you please, if you don't mind, go get me some tea? It's been a rather…long day."

It has definitely been a long day, Hinata thought sullenly. _A long and wasted day._

Naruto stopped cackling at Sakura, and eager to fulfill his friend's small request, started to make a beeline to the staff room.

"Sure! Anything goes for Hinata-chan!"

"Thank you," Hinata called after Naruto's retreating form. She then turned her attention to Sakura, who was still massaging her temples, her eyes pressed shut.

"Sakura-san? He's gone now." Hinata quietly coaxed.

Although judging by the amount of goofing off that Naruto often did, it would seem as if Sakura and Naruto enjoyed an easy post as Sasuke's right and left hand man and woman. Compared to Hinata's other coworkers, who were often frantically typing, or downing coffee with dark rings under their eyes, Sakura and Naruto seemed as if they were sipping tea and munching on biscuits while chirruping happily about their lives behind the closed doors of Sasuke's office. But when the day for another issue of Konoha Heat to be released, Hinata knew that there were no other people busier than the three. She could tell that with all the stress that Sakura was under; it would not take much more for Sakura to snap.

Sakura stopped rubbing the side of her head, and nervously looked up and around, as if to make sure that Naruto really was out of sight, and not hiding under a desk somewhere waiting to pop out and yell "GOTCHA!"

"I sent him to get some tea. I thought you might like some," Hinata explained.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief and smiled warmly, grateful that her friend finally gave her a moment's reprieve away from Naruto.

"Thank you, Hinata-san. You don't know how glad I am that you're back.

Hinata returned her smile. "Oh, you don't know how glad I am to be back."

"So how'd it go? Did you get a good haul? You're back so early!" Sakura's eyes shone with excitement and interest, like a schoolgirl asking her friend if she had just landed a date with a longtime crush.

"Well, I—" Hinata's sentence was cut midway as she found herself, yet again, being dragged off her feet, this time to her own desk.

"Cloud Nine's a national sensation, Hinata! You can't tell me all the juicy details of your interview with just small hallway chit-chat!"

There, Sakura asked her all the usual questions – was he remotely as ravishing everyone thought him, did he have a bad attitude, and was if even mildly interesting—questions that told Hinata Sakura was interested in the sensational singer, but not overly so. Sakura had been in and out of being part of a groupie too many times. Hinata was sure that if anyone else was asking her about Cloud Nine, they would have ripped her to shreds about him, extracting any sliver of information that the other magazines could not disclose.

But it was just as well, Hinata could not answer any of the questions as well as anyone wanted. When Sakura had asked what Hinata thought about him overall, she simply answered, after a pregnant pause, that the man was definitely more than what everyone thought he was.

"Well, was he at least nice to you, Hinata?"

Hinata felt color drain from her face. Nice? He had offered her a drink, offered her to make herself comfortable in his presence with all his guffawing friends. But he had crossed the boundaries of nice when he planted himself on that couch, just inches, maybe not even that far, from her. And from the way he stared at her with his cloudy, heated eyes, she just wanted to bolt out of the room, away from all his "niceness".

Had he been nice? He had been. He had been nice, and a whole lot more. Nice and disarming and insinuating, all at once. The manager could not have had better timing. What would have happened if she had to stay in that hazy room for a minute longer—with the smoke fondling its way into her clothes, and the alcohol on the breath of everyone around her was nearly tangible, while she was being prodded and played with like a child's plaything—she did not want to know what could have happened to her.

But one thing was for sure. It was her own battle, and Hinata could not let Sakura or Naruto, being as busy as they were at this time of the month, do so much as hear a word about her troubles. In the worst case scenario, the only scenario, that Hinata could fathom happening was both of them blowing a gasket and then taking it up to Sasuke about it, which about then, everything would just combust and Hinata would be the one who started the fire. Anything that would bring Sasuke in should be avoided at all costs.

Hinata looked up into Sakura's curious emerald eyes, those eyes that could be so piercing when they wanted to be, seeing through any bluff as if it were right in front of her, Naruto had always said.

She sighed, and hoped that Sakura would not see through this one.

"Yes, he was." _To the point of making me feel ill at ease._

"Really?"

"Yes," Hinata gave an affirming nod. "In fact, he even invited to come visit him again. At the club Leaves on Fire."

Sakura's face immediately shot up into a smug grin, as if she had just found out a dirty secret. "Ah, so Hinata's got a date!"

"I-it's not like that! I just…I didn't get enough in my interview today. He had to leave early and cut it short. So he told me I could meet him there," Hinata defended, perhaps a little too quickly. It sounded as if she really did have some dirty secret to keep sealed. It made her feel all the more guilty.

"Oh." Although Hinata was glad that Sakura did not further pursue the subject, the smug grin had not slipped completely from her face.

"Hey, I'm back! Did I miss any of the nasty bits?" Naruto had reappeared, nursing a piping hot mug of tea.

"No, Naruto, none of this concerns you," said Sakura, sounding like a sister shunting out a petulant little brother from one of her "big-girl" talks. "And I'll be taking that." She reached over and lifted the mug from Naruto's grip, like taking candy from a baby.

"Hey! I made that for Hinata!"

"She said I could have it."

"Well, I made that for Hinata, though! You should have gone and made your own if you wanted one so badly!"

"Enough, Naruto. We should get back to doing our own work, and leave Hinata to do her's." Sakura bade Hinata farewell and went off in the direction of her own office.

"Hey wait, Sakura! Don't think I'm through with you stealing other people's drinks!" And Naruto chased after her, brandishing a fist in her direction, leaving Hinata with nothing but the chatter of the workplace to keep her company.

In the absence of the lighthearted, playful bickering of Naruto and Sakura, the full impact of it all bore down on her. Her work and how nonexistent it was, was staring her blankly in the face. The cursor blinked on the screen, and Hinata's fingers remained silent and still on the keyboard. It was deafening.

Today was supposed to have been a day of great rejoice. She could have been writing down the first draft of her article right at this very moment, and laughing without care at Naruto's silliness. Yet she had gotten nowhere, save for an invitation to meet Cloud Nine again at a date perhaps too late to save her career that had never had a chance to bloom. If possible, Hinata felt that she had gone backwards, ending up on a square that was worst than square one. This morning, she had a plan of action, and that was to give a deep, in-depth interview with the famous Cloud Nine. Now, all she had was nothing, her hair and clothes smelled like cigars, and this certain dislike for the singer, whom she was to meet again on Friday.

Friday. The day of her deadline. It brought up another predicament. If she had not wanted for Sakura to blow a gasket at Cloud Nine for brushing up against her the wrong way, Sasuke would probably blow away the whole building, or at least blow her away, for not turning anything in when she was supposed to.

Hinata sighed in defeat as she rested her head on her fist, frowning. Nothing could be done right now, that was the only thing she was sure of.

* * *

The rain poured down in torrential sheets, the wind whipping the droplets sideways.

Hinata stood behind the entrance doors, watching the raindrops pelt the glass panes. Only the weather seemed to know what she was feeling inside, she mused.

As per usual, she was the last employee remaining. Everyone else had the sense to leave when they spotted the dark, heavy clouds overhead blot out the sun. Naruto had left two hours ago. Sakura had offered her dinner and a ride, but Hinata did not want to trouble Sakura any more than she had to. All Hinata could do now was wait out the storm. She hoped it would let up before—

"Hyuuga," Hinata heard from behind her. Too late.

A familiar jolt traveled up her spine every time she heard him say her name. She had managed to steer clear out of his way for the last couple of days, but today, his gaze was inescapable.

"Uchiha-sama!" Hinata gave him her usual polite bow every time he addressed her.

"What are you still doing here, Hyuuga?" His tone had not been a demanding or patronizing, but it still sent her into a dither.

"Ah, um, well…" Hinata was flustered and at a loss for word the second time that day. This time, the situation seemed less dire to get out of. But only a bit less.

"Well, regardless, I'm going to lock up. So unless you want to be locked up in here for the whole night…" Sasuke had already stepped outside, and was holding the door open for her with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Oh! Yes, I-I mean, I'm getting out right now." Hinata blushed; embarrassed and a bit surprised that Sasuke was actually holding opening the door for her. He would more readily slam it in front of others.

Sasuke started to descend the first three of the steps that connected the entrance to the sidewalk below, but Hinata did not step forward from the doors behind her, and stayed under the shelter of the awning.

He stopped and turned under his umbrella when he noticed she was not following.

"If you really wanted to stay here, you could have just said so," Hinata heard him shout above the blasting noise of the rushing rain.

"I-it's not that! I don't have an umbrella. I'd be soaked! And w-well, you can see where the problem lies!" Hinata gestured to her white blouse.

Hinata gave a small gasp, appalled when she heard him reply "So?" Was he simply oblivious, or was he implying something else?

"Fine, Hyuuga, if it bothers you that much…"

Puzzled, Hinata blinked.

Before she knew it, Sasuke thrust something at her, and she caught it in her hands. Upon closer examination, she saw it was a suit jacket, made of very fine material. Very fine and pricey material. She glanced back at Sasuke, who was now missing his own jacket. She looked back at the material in her hands.

The thunderbolt struck; Hinata put two and two together.

She had already opened her mouth to protest, that she could never possibly take anything from him, that it would get wet and ruined, but when she looked in his direction again, Sasuke was already at the bottom of the steps, with hands in his pockets, casually making his way to his car.

"W-wait! Uchiha-sama," she bellowed at the top of her lungs.

"Don't a fool, Hyuuga! Who knows when this storm will stop! Security will kick you off the premises eventually, anyway!"

Hinata bit her lower lip, hesitating.

"That's an order, Hyuuga!" And he continued on walking, without so much as a last glance, effectively shutting down any other protest that Hinata might have left.

And Hinata, never being one to go against an order, could only wrap the jacket on and over her for a meager, but certainly appreciated piece of shelter from the rain.

Donning the jacket and trudging home, for the first time since entering Cloud Nine's sickening suite, Hinata did not smell the foul smoke that had lingered on her. Instead, she sensed a musky, sultry scent. It was intoxicating, veiling her mind. But it was not unwelcome nor did it assault her senses like when she was Cloud Nine. It was sensual, it was sultry, it was…Hinata took a whiff of Sasuke's jacket, and immediately recoiled when she realized what she was doing. But the deed was done, and sure enough, it was coming from Sasuke's jacket.

Strangely, as the cold rain came down in bullets from above, with the jacket covering her, Hinata felt warm all the way home. An umbrella definitely would not have been able to do _that_.

And strangely, in the middle of the living room in her modest apartment, soaked to the bone, her skirt dripping trails onto the floorboards, she was a bit reluctant to peel Sasuke's jacket off her.

* * *

To a man whose days are numbered, execution day could not come any faster.

To Hinata, whose death sentence has not been announced but was inevitably doomed anyway, the day before Friday came before she even had a chance to sort out her problems.

The only difference between a man on death row and Hinata was that she would be tortured slowly before she got her head lobbed off.

Hinata came in early Thursday morning with lead in her stomach and her mind as heavy as steel. She could already see the lights in the offices of Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were already on. Publication day was nearing, and Hinata did not hear so much as a peep from Naruto.

Hinata endured the eerie silence for an hour before the first of Sasuke's admirers came bearing coffee. She watched as they turned away dejectedly after knocking on his door for a good three minutes.

Seeing that the progress on her article had not moved in the least ever since she set her heart on it, Hinata began to feel guilty. She should do _something_. The title, at least. She wracked her brain for something, _anything_ that would come to mind.

_Cloud Nine to Seventh Heaven: What Makes This Star More Than a Star._ Hinata deleted the title not even a second after she had typed it out. It certainly highlighted how godly his imaged showed him to be, but was it really what caught the attention of the masses?

_The Shooting Star That Has Everyone Dazzled_. How original. And was truly everyone dazzled?

_Cloud Nine: He Clouds Up Your Mind._ Hinata pondered. With just that title, it could be taken so many different ways, but she was sure that no one would know it like Hinata knew it. Her experience with him was like a wound that kept on being rubbed at and refused to heal. Somewhere, Hinata hoped that it was just a onetime slip up, that maybe she had just caught him on an off day, and she just happened to get caught in it. After all, booze, smokes, and women did often go together. _But on the day of his own concert?_ Hinata just wanted to think of any reasonable explanation as to why a superstar like him would be like that.

Hinata crossed her legs in frustration, and accidentally knocked a neat, shiny white bag.

Gasping in dismay, she quickly checked the contents and moved it to a safer area, where it could not get kicked, or even worse, stomped on. Hinata knew it was a bit silly to check on Sasuke's jacket when she had just merely kicked it a bit, but she would hate for anything bad to befall on it, as she would be the one to blame if anything ever did. She had diligently taken it to the dry cleaners the day before, treating it as if it was a sheet to glass. She resisted the fleeting temptation of one more whiff of it to see it the same musky scent was still there. After seeing Sasuke's admirers get blatantly rejected from entering, Hinata had decided to wait until he came out of his office to return it.

The morning passed by like a breeze, and it was finally lunchtime when she finally heard from Naruto. He looked exhausted, but managed to flash her a grin before plopping down next to her at the table and helped himself to one of her octopus wieners.

"Where's Sakura?" asked Hinata.

"Ah, still working. Whenever she's working on something, she's hell-bent on finishing it. I only managed to slip away. But at least even she goes out of her office for breaks, too. Unlike that Sasuke, who hasn't come out ever since he came in," said Naruto, his mouth full of one of Hinata's onigiri.

"Oh…I wonder if he's all right."

"Aw, don't worry about Sasuke. He sure doesn't worry about you. Or anyone else for that matter. Why waste your energy on him?"

Hinata was not convinced. She stared blankly at her white rice and her chopsticks dangled between her fingers.

Seeing this, Naruto hurriedly tried to bring back up her falling mood. "Hey, he's probably just really busy, you know? It's not like he's collapsed from pneumonia from the other day's rain or something."

Hinata gave a worried gasp. "Y-you don't think he really did, do you?" If Sasuke really had, it would have been because Hinata had taken his jacket that day, leaving him vulnerable to the ravaging weather. She voiced her concern to Naruto.

"No way, that selfish jerk lent you his jacket? He wouldn't even lend me an extra umbrella that day," Naruto sounded as if Sasuke was running a kissing booth for his all his admirers. He quickly recomposed himself, however, after seeing the alarmed look on Hinata's face. "Well I'm sure he's fine. Anyway, even if he did get sick, it wouldn't just be because of you. The guy's been under a lot of stress and stuff lately, and that would have gotten to him first."

"I…I guess you're right, Naruto. " Hinata pushed aside her bento to Naruto. "I don't feel like eating much, so you can have it." She stood up and left a baffled Naruto to himself.

* * *

Half past ten. It was what the clock on right wall read, and judging by the silence and darkness that engulfed the office building, the clock was not far off. It was half past ten, and Hinata was still in front of her computer screen, with the only word she had so far for her title: _The_. It did not even sound like the beginning of an interesting article. The guilt was eating her up inside, and Hinata felt like she just _had _to churn out something. And there was another thing.

Sasuke still had not left his office yet. The bulbs in his office still blared as brightly as ever.

By this time, Hinata was actually starting to believe something terrible had befallen him. She debated with herself on whether or not to gather up the courage to actually knock softly on his door. What if he thought she was just somebody snooping around, hoping to ambush him? Would he be…angry with her? She flattened all doubts however, when she decided that the weight of just leaving Sasuke there, possibly ill, would bear down on her more heavily. Grabbing the white bag that held Sasuke's jacket, she approached the entrance to his office.

Taking in a deep breath, Hinata quietly tapped on one of the two grand oak doors. No answer.

She wrapped her fingers around the golden door handle. Surprisingly, it easily turned. She pushed the door open with little effort. Hinata tentatively took two small steps inside.

Suddenly, she found herself with her back to the wall, with two larger hands on either side of her hand boxing her in. Whatever attacked her was pushing her back closer to the wall with its own body. The charcoal eyes that stared at her held so much fury, she thought they looked blood red. Hot breath was hitting her neck. Somewhere, though, there was that familiar, sultry scent.

"U-Uchiha-sama?" Hinata heard herself whisper.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** No ownage whatsoever of any characters or things related to Naruto. Any names of original things (i.e. _Konoha Heat_) not pertaining to Naruto is purely coincidental.

**A/N:** I added the last part there because I came across a fic that had already used the name for something else before me. Whoops. Although it is really only a minor detail in this story, please believe me when I say I really did not know beforehand. Thanks!

* * *

"U-Uchiha-sama?"

Hinata's voice shook as much as her body. Her heart pounded in her eardrums. Moisture formed on her palms as she clutched her bag even tighter.

The usually collected, stoic Sasuke was livid, pinning her against the wall. He was breathing heavily, with the whites of his teeth bared, making her feel like a rabbit in the final breathes of life, caught by a mad dog. She could feel his scorching skin, even through all the layers of clothing. The heat radiating off of him was making her light-headed.

"Hyuuga? What are you doing here? Everyone's supposed to have left already," Sasuke growled. He released Hinata from his vice grip. He seemed exhausted and frustrated as he rubbed his eyes with the tips of his slender fingers. It was almost uncharacteristic to Hinata, like a small sign of weakness, something that people never associated with Uchiha Sasuke.

"Well, I'm not allowing anyone to stay late today, so you better evacuate the premises, or I won't hesitate to send the hounds on you," said Sasuke, walking back to his desk. He was almost staggering, Hinata noticed. His shoulders were hunched over, and he lacked the air of silent arrogance that he usually walked with.

Hinata did not voice compliance and made no move towards the door.

"Are you…all right, Uchiha-sama?" She tried keeping her voice steady in front of him.

"Of course I'm all right, Hyuuga, what kind of question is that," he snapped. "If I'm not 'all right,' how else will we be able have another issue come out smoothly?"

Hinata flinched, but she refused to back down. "I-I think you might be sick. I think you might be running a fever. You've just been working so hard and the rain the other day…" she trailed off.

Sasuke scoffed as if the idea was preposterous, and continued to fervently type at the computer on his desk.

"Please, I think I might have something that will help." Hinata promptly rushed out the door, not caring whether or not he would shut the door and lock her out. The instinct to help a sick person, even when they did not acknowledge it themselves, was what was driving her, and it drove her to the staff room.

Looping the bag containing Sasuke's jacket around her shoulders, she searched around in the cabinets for a mug. After cleaning it out of any dust, Hinata poured in hot water from the water machine in the corner. In any other case, she would have boiled the water herself, but there was no time for such luxuries. Then, Hinata fumbled around in one of her desk drawers until her hand finally grasped a small packet. In the light of lamp at her desk, she saw that it was a packet of tea leaves, from her own family's company, no less. In bold curlicue letters, the label read: "_Hyuuga Remedial Teas—From fevers to migraines, just a whiff, and you'll be up in a jiff!" _and tucked quietly in at the edge like a hidden gem 

waiting to be discovered, "_Inspirational Quote of the Day: 'You won't make footprints in the sands of time by sitting on your butt…' _"

Hinata did not read on, and hurriedly tore the packet open. Her senses were immediately filled with the heavenly aroma that wafted out. The tea was meant to be calming and loosen the nerves, but she did not slow down one bit as she poured the contents into the steaming mug. The petals and leaves drifted down to the bottom of the mug, coloring the water a pretty jade green. But there was no time to admire the color or take in the aroma any longer. Hinata dashed as fast as she could while holding onto a steaming mug of tea to Sasuke's office, which was mercifully only a few strides away. The door was still as open as it was when Hinata left. Hinata took it as a sign of permission of reentry.

She poked her head through the door into Sasuke's office. He was still typing away, his eyes glued, unblinking at the screen, making no motion of ever noticing her.

Hinata pulled her neck back to where the door completely concealed her, hesitating. Whatever drove her to be so bold to openly go against Uchiha Sasuke's word and accuse him of being a weak, sick man had dried up like a puddle in the desert. She should have never barged into Sasuke's office at such an hour, and should have just slipped away quietly, assuming he was just working later than usual, and opting to return his jacket at a later, more appropriate time of the day. Having the gall to barge in and take it upon her to treat Uchiha Sasuke like a child in need, she was no worse than her pining lady coworkers.

"I know you're still here, Hyuuga. "

Hinata's heart gave a violent jump, as did her whole body, nearly scalding her hands with the hot tea. Uchiha Sasuke _always_ managed to catch her in the worst of times. Perhaps the man just enjoyed toying with shy, timid employees, Hinata thought grimly.

Hinata tried to make her shaky footsteps as steady as possible, approaching his desk. Any sign of fear seeping through the cracks, and Sasuke just might break her.

"I…I thought this might help with your fever," she said, placing the mug down on his desk with two hands. Her father had taught her that loosely placing cups of tea down with one hand was a sign of insolence.

The mug made contact with the desk in a dull _clunk_. Hinata nearly cringed at how piercingly loud it was above the noise of the keyboard's clacks. Her father had also taught her never to set down tea louder than a whisper. Only petulant children and worthless drunkards made such garish movements.

Hinata stepped back and stood there with her hands down and crossed in front of her, like a servant girl waiting for her next command or to be sent away. Seconds that seemed like an eternity passed before Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, and even then, he did not take his eyes off the computer screen.

"I don't need anybody's charity, Hyuuga."

She blushed in embarrassment, although Sasuke would not have noticed, his eyes still not moving anywhere off the screen in front of him. Hinata was not expecting a thanks, but the worse she had fathomed was him just shooing her out. It was a taste of how bitingly frigid he could be; only the tip of the glacier.

Wounded but refusing to be beaten, Hinata tried sputtering whatever of a reasonable comeback she could come up with right at the moment.

"B-but, Uchiha-sama…" she persisted weakly.

"Hyuuga, understand this," Sasuke said, with the air of an adult lecturing a child after a tantrum. "I simply _cannot_ be sick or fall ill. Because then, no work would ever get done. I can't leave this, _not for a second_. Because the second I do, we'd have to head for the hills, up to our necks in trouble. And think I remember telling you, Hyuuga, that I don't run. Not from anything. Not from this, not from some measly cold, _nothing_." There was a tone of finality at the last word. Sasuke, confident that he had shut down Hinata hard enough for her to never come back, refused to acknowledge her any more.

"Fever, Uchiha-sama," Hinata softly said, after a second.

"What did you say?" Sasuke snarled, finally stopping his typing and slowly turned to face her. He seemed on the edge of fury and frustration at the stubbornly persistent girl in front of him for having the damn _balls_ to talk back to him. The girl had only been trembling under him like trapped mouse a few minutes ago!

"You have a fever, Uchiha-sama, not a cold. And…I think you _are _running," her voice barely above a whisper. Hinata's head was bowed, her midnight locks shielding her eyes from Sasuke's sight. "You're running from the fact that you're simply human, that you _do_ get sick, that you sometimes _need_ help, and that you _can't_ carry such a large burden on you all the time. Not by yourself."

Hinata lifted her head, her lavender eyes locking onto Sasuke's stony stare. His image was clear and focused, none of the tears she thought she might have shed getting in the way. She could not discern exactly what he held in his gaze, whether it was the desire to strike her, curse at her, or shove her out his office onto her rear. But she held onto it, even to the point in getting lost in his steely onyx pools, for the longest time, minutes or hours, she couldn't tell for sure. All she was focused on was winning this tacit war of wills. Her father had said speaking was not always communication. Body language also had much to do with striking deals and business partnerships. Let a hint of meekness show, and your opponent with immediately seize that to their advantage. Hinata remembered her father, her sister even, always taking the better side of the deal, forcing her to compromise.

It was Sasuke who finally tore his eyes away for her, to stare back at his screen.

"If you're quite finished, Hyuuga, just go home," he said quietly.

"I will. I just wanted to return this to you," Hinata said, the strength in her never once waiving for a second. She placed the white bag soundlessly on his desk next to the mug of tea. The coils of steam above the mug were barely visible any longer.

Taking a step backwards, Hinata bowed at the waist. "Good night, Uchiha-sama, I hope you'll get well_,_" she said, and swiftly turned and walked with slow dignity towards the door, all without ever laying eyes on the man in front of her.

Hinata was already out the door, and had only turned around with her hand the gleaming handle of the open door, about to swing it shut. The door was only a few inches from being closed, when the last sight she saw in the room caused her to stifle a small gasp of amazement that had wriggled its way onto her lips.

Sasuke had tentatively wrapped his fingers around the mug's handle, as if it was to jump up and bite him on the nose any second if he wasn't careful, lifted it to his mouth, and with a small scowl on his face, tipped the mug up slightly for a reluctant, miniscule sip.

Despite the triumph and joy that swelled up in her like a balloon and threatened to burst, she steadily closed the door as quietly as she could. If Sasuke had known that Hinata was watching him put away a bit his pride and see the truth of her words, he would not have hesitated to fling the mug, tea and all, in the direction of her face. Hinata could only speculate of he had taken more sips or perhaps even finish the whole thing, but she supposed that all great men had to start somewhere.

The hallways were dark, and the silence that blanketed the building was a bit eerie, but Hinata felt as though she could have skipped and sang her way from the elevator, across the lobby to the front doors. It wasn't as if there was anybody who would scold her and tell her to keep it down anyway. Her heels clacked cheerily against the tiled floor. The cool breeze of the night caressed her face as she pushed open the front door.

For once in the week so far, it wasn't raining as she was coming out. For once in the week so far, she wasn't going home with a heavy heart. And for once in her life so far, she was proud (or what she supposed came to the closest feeling of being proud) to be a Hyuuga.

* * *

The dregs of her mood lasted to the morning after, allowing her to forget for a moment that it was Friday. Execution day.

Hinata walked to work that morning at a leisurely place, even allowing herself to be tantalized into buying a pastry at the local patisserie that was just beginning to open for the day. A quiet breeze whispered and fluttered her long, dark hair. The streets still slumbered in a quiet serenity; the only sounds heard were the most diligent of storeowners setting up shop. But even they worked in peaceful chatter, unlike the raucous hustle and bustle to be heard a few hours later. The stars in the sky had yet to fade, the night still draping a halcyon shroud over the city of Konohagakure.

Turning around the corner of a rather flashy florist (Yamanaka's, a flower shop that opened rather late but was actually in very high demand), it finally came into view: the publication building of _Konoha Heat_, where Hinata was currently making the first steps into journalism.

Compared to all the towering skyscrapers that surrounded it, there was nothing awe-striking about the building being only several stories high. But what it lacked in height it made up for in grandeur. The grand marble stairway that leads to the entrance was majestic, and the mighty fountain that pumped water up several feet into the air was like a fanfare announcing the building's evident importance. Even in the pale moonlight, Hinata could see it gleaming. She could only imagine how it must be when basked in pure sunlight.

With a determined breath of air, she crossed the street, ready to take on the day.

But when she was only a few feet from the steps, Hinata saw a figure also approaching the steps in the opposite direction that made her want to immediately throw herself into the shrubbery right next to her.

Uchiha Sasuke was walking at a relaxed pace in her direction, his briefcase slung over his shoulder, his other hand buried in his pocket. In fact, even Sasuke himself looked more lenient, with his dress shirt unbuttoned at the top and tie hanging loosely around his neck. Hinata didn't know whether to be perturbed or joyful at the change.

She was just about ready sprint over to some hiding place. After the little spat last night, she wasn't exactly sure how _agreeable_ his reaction would be, nor was she ready to face it. Her knees were already bent, muscles taut, about to take off to hide in a shadow somewhere, but it was too late. He had spotted her and she heard him call her name.

"Hyuuga. Fancy having to see you so early in the morning," he said, starting up the steps.

Hinata nearly winced. She had felt a slight chilliness in his words.

"Um…A-are you all right now, Uchiha-sama?" In spite of everything, she just _had_ to know if his health improved. It was that instinct that she had to help anyone in need again.

In the silence of the night, Hinata heard Sasuke give a low chuckle. It sounded awfully menacing to her.

"Of course I'm all right, Hyuuga, what kind of question is that?"

Hinata could see him peering down at her from the step he was on, with a slight smirk on his face, his eyes almost gleaming with a hint of mirth. It was then that Hinata was finally convinced that Sasuke was well again, back with all his silent arrogance, his own warped, teasing humor.

Despite herself, a smile stretch over her face. Maybe he really _did_ like messing with shy, timid employees. After all, she was the meekest of everyone at the office.

"Hi-na-ta," she called after him.

The Hinata a week ago would have burst into tears of horror, hearing herself correct her superior for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. Perhaps how well she had escaped with her skin intact the last time she did spurred her on to do it another time. Or maybe she just wanted to humor him.

"Hm?" Sasuke turned around again, all signs of him ever lifting his lips to something other than a scowl gone. He was frowning in slight puzzlement.

"My name is Hinata. Not Hyuuga. I would rather….not be called something I'm not. At least, not really," she said, her thumbs coyly finding their way to each other as she tried to articulate her words as best as she could without being too personal. She didn't want Sasuke, who already had problems with people wanting to get over-friendly, thinking that she was some shy, dark weirdo that had finally latched onto a companion.

"Whatever you say…Hinata," he said languidly, continuing up the steps and sounding like a husband who simply gave into his wife's demands just for the sake of not fighting anymore.

He raised his hand in air as to bid Hinata farewell, and she did not press on.

Somehow, it felt as if her last dregs would last her longer than it would.

* * *

Hinata had only been able to place her belonging onto her desk shortly before Sakura and Naruto finally appeared at the office, rushing into Sasuke's office, not even bothering to close the door after them.

"Sasuke, are you all right? You locked yourself up in here all day yesterday…" Hinata could hear Sakura's voice filled with concern.

"Yeah! We were startin' to think you died in here! Eh, turns out you didn't. I knew it was too good to be true."

Hinata heard a fist come into contact with someone's skull and Naruto whimpering "Ow!"

"Naruto! You shouldn't say things like that! What if something really did happen to him? What if he had actually fallen ill?"

"It's fine." It was Sasuke's deep voice, in contrast to Naruto's higher, boyish one. "All that matters is that we get our work done."

Mutters of agreement from both Naruto and Sakura resounded in Sasuke's office. It was then silent for a second.

"By the way, Sasuke, when did you get out yesterday?" Not surprisingly, it was Naruto who broke the silence.

"Dunno. Early enough to see Hyuuga over there turn the corner past Yamanaka's place. Go bother her about it."

Hinata blushed. She could see the smirk playing on Sasuke's lips right when he said that.

"WHAT? So now you're stalking Hinata? What else do you do, raid her panty drawer at night, too?"

"No, Naruto. But _you'd_ know where it is, wouldn't you?"

Hinata blushed ten shades deeper. Now she was definitely glad that she refrained from skipping home last night.

* * *

Trays clattered, wooden chopsticks came apart with a sharp snap. The aroma of steamed jasmine rice mingled in the air. It was the sound and smell of the cafeteria coming to life as workers meandered in, hungry for more than food for thought.

The tart grape juice burned as it slithered down her throat. But she felt as though she wouldn't have the energy to chew or even stomach her lunch, with her nerves jittering the way they were.

Hinata chewed at her straw. Mid-morning, she had finally sobered up to the fact that it was finally Friday, a day that most others at the building would rejoice at. Yet, to her, it was the day she had been dreading since the beginning of the week. The irony was as tart as the juice she was sipping.

"There you are, Hinata! No wonder I couldn't find you in the staff room."

Hinata looked over to find Sakura, waving to her enthusiastically as she clutched her own boxed lunch, wrapped in a pretty red cloth.

Sakura plopped down in the seat next to Hinata, and after murmuring a word of thanks for the meal in front of her, eagerly dug in.

She sighed contentedly as she bit into a piece of chicken. "It tastes so good to eat real food again! With all the work we've had the past couple of days, there hasn't been time to eat much. I think I would have died if I had to take up on Naruto's offer of instant ramen for another day."

Sakura peered over at Hinata, who was quietly sipping at the juice box in her hands, with nothing in front of her.

"Is that all you're having for lunch today? Hinata, that's not healthy," she kindly chided. "Here, you can have some of mine." She nudged the bento in between her and Hinata.

Hinata flushed in embarrassment for having her friend worry. "Oh, t-that fine, Sakura. Thank you. I'm…I'm not really that hungry, that's all." It wasn't completely a lie, but Hinata still felt a pang of guilt for the false truth.

Sakura looked unconvinced, but did not wheedle. Then she face shot up as she just remembered something. "Oh, that's right, don't you have a date—I mean," Sakura quickly rethought her sentence, seeing the flustered look Hinata shot her. "Aren't you meeting up with someone tonight, Hinata?"

She batted her eyelids and gently prodded Hinata with an elbow, a sly grin adorning her face.

"Nervous?"

"No! Of course not!" Hinata replied, perhaps a little too quickly. "Well, maybe…maybe a little." But it was definitely not nervous in the way that Sakura thought. "I'm going to leave early today. His manager left me a message telling me that he'd be there at around seven."

"Ah. Well, I guess he must be pretty important. You're usually one of the last to leave!"

Hinata blushed.

"Where are you going again?" Sakura inquired.

"Um…a club called Leaves on Fire. I'm not exactly sure where that is, though."

Sakura tapped a finger on her chin pensively. "I'm not quite sure I've ever even heard of it, either. Funny, I would have thought a star like him would go to a place more...in the spotlight. Anyway, I hope everything goes well and that you have some fun, too, Hinata!"

Hinata nodded cheerfully. She was wishing against wishes that all her apprehension was for naught and that somehow, _someway,_ she could save her neck from Sasuke's wrath when she doesn't get her article in on time.

* * *

The night was still young, her sultry veil clinging to Hinata's skin. The stars were only beginning to shine, tittering shyly before they cavort in their gleaming radiance. Shops were still open, but some were beginning to close up, the display windows swept away, all of the treasures being hidden away until next time. The bars were now filling up, the scent of whiskey and scotch becoming stronger with each passing hour. It was Friday night, and the sleeping fox of Konohagakure was just beginning to come out to play.

It was still warm and muggy outside, but Hinata shivered slightly. The top she wore showed off a bit more skin and chest than she was comfortable with (which wasn't much, if any), and her skirt stopped way too high up her thigh. But it was more appropriate to wear this kind of clothing, she supposed, than to wear her business suit, which would make she stick out like a sore thumb.

Hinata sighed dejectedly.

This kind of nightlife was not something Hinata was particularly accustomed to. There were so many other things she would have liked to do on Friday night, like cozy up to a book, or maybe even have hot, steaming ramen at the Ichiraku noodle bar with Naruto and Sakura, in the hands of good company.

But now, she was going to some obscure club, doing who knows what, with people she was not familiar with.

Hinata had asked the lone man sitting in the lobby of the apartment complex, who looked rather forlorn that he was stuck being on duty while everyone else was out enjoying the freedom of the night, if he knew, if he even _heard of_ a club called Leaves on Fire.

He had given her a bewildered stare, as if confused as to why a girl like her would go _there_. Hinata blushed and fidgeted, but thankfully, he had asked no questions, only telling her that if she was lucky, the driver of the taxi she would catch would know.

Clambering into a taxi she had flagged down, Hinata asked, and the sullen driver took off, without a word.

He had taken a right, gone straight and taken the second left, then fourth right until Hinata finally gave up on tracing his path. Konoha was a city was many turns and crevices, and it was then that she realized how winding it all could be. As a girl being raised to fit as the ruler of a prestigious company, she never did roam the city streets.

Hinata was befuddled when the driver stopped in front of dingy street, too narrow for a car, but just right for a motorbike.

The driver told her to keep walking straight down the alley, she couldn't miss it.

It was walking down the drab alley that she figured out she was in the rougher side of town. Graffiti was plastered all over the walls, some lampooned prominent figures of the country, stating "_GODAIME SUCKZ,"_ and some mocked and jeered other countries, like _"DOWN WITH SUNA, UP WITH KONOHA PRIDE!!"_

Hinata continued walking, taking careful steps in case she was to tread on shards of broken beer bottles and scraps of garbage that littered the ground. Slowly, she began to hear the heavy beats of music blasting from a distance away and the vibrant colors of neon winking at her. She kept on going forward, and when she finally made it to the source of the music and lights, she could see a crowd of people cluttered around entrance, pushing and shoving to get in. A bouncer stood sentinel next to the entrance, eyeing the crowd dubiously behind his mysterious shades with a small scowl on his face.

Looking up at the sign, Hinata's eyes nearly watered. It was intensely bright compared to the bleak alley all around it. Squinting, she saw the sign depicted a leaf, encircled by a ring of fire. Below the logo, in bold, bright letters, stood the name of the club: Leaves on Fire.

Hinata straightened her back and gripped her small purse tighter. It was now or never.

She followed behind the crowd closely, as to blend in and not attract any attention to the bouncer, but without becoming a part of the throng.

Inside, the club was as smoky and hazy as the time when she stepped into Cloud Nine's suite. Except now, there were many more sweaty bodies pumped with adrenaline and alcohol, dancing wildly, throwing their arms in the air and on each other. Hips grinding, gyrating. Multicolored lights flashing. 

Music booming as people screamed for more. Hinata found herself wanting to cover her ears and go crawl off into the bathroom, or at least someplace less _frisky_. She hurried to go find Cloud Nine. The faster she got out of this place, the better.

But she didn't have to look for long. A few moments of searching around, and _he_ found _her_.

"Hinata-chan. _There_ you are." An oily voice reached her ears above all the music, sending tingles down her spine, making her want to propel herself to someplace where the owner of the voice couldn't find her.

There was only one other person that was able to make her do that, and this time, she was sure it _was not_ Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

--Inspirational quote of the day on the label belongs to Bob Moawad. In other words, it is not mine.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**: Proceed with caution. But it's probably not like it's something you haven't seen before.

* * *

Hinata slowly, painstakingly swiveled her head around, all the while wishing it was only her nerves playing games on her mind, or that perhaps maybe the person was referring to another Hinata.

All her fleeting, silly hopes were dashed, however, when she spotted him. The unmistakable blonde hair that was like a sore thumb, even in all the blinding lights of the club. The disarming smile that shone straight, pearly white teeth. And those insinuating eyes that drank her in its sight and made her feel like drowning. Cloud Nine was sitting at the bar illuminated by green neon, making him seem like he himself was glowing green. The singer's fingers were wrapped around a slender glass with amber, and he perpetually surrounded by his posse.

It was now or never. Hinata clutched her small handbag tighter and straightened up, hoping that even in a place where everybody just totally let go and allowed desires to run rampant, Cloud Nine would get the message that she was here for business, and she wanted business done fast. He had not seemed to understand last time, but now, the situation was dire. She wasn't going to let anything get in the way of completing her article.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke had a good day today.

He had managed to go through twelve articles, get the next issue's layout all planned out, and that five pages worth of crap article that he had crumpled up into the size of a golf ball written by that slut, who had been too focused on getting into his pants rather than improving the quality of her writing, had gotten personal with its owner's forehead and found death in the trash bin had really done well to vent out a bit of his pent up frustrations.

He had just finished going over the layout for the next issue that he, Sakura, and Naruto had been working on for the past couple of days again. It had cost him a total of two days worth of sleep, a week of scrounging around in the fridge in the staff room and nicking off pieces of whatever looked edible without requiring heating (not that he'd get the finger pointed at him, anyway), and a near breakdown, if it hadn't been for that Hyuuga girl (what's-her-face, Hinata?).

Sasuke frowned, recounting her little speech she had last night. Him, '_running'_? Who did she think she was kidding, anyway? Alright, maybe he was pushing it a bit, but aren't all writers a bit of a masochist, anyway? And he, with the weight of the highly popular _Konoha Heat_ that he had founded, in a rags-to-riches story after his father had left his little newspaper stand for ruins, all while being at the ripest age for wild parties, sleeping in, and letting his testosterone do all the thinking for him, the biggest masochist of them all?

What a bleak title to behold.

Maybe she did have a point. And thanks to that tea that she concocted, that migraine that had been hovering around him since about forever finally left, and in response to such a liberating feeling, he let loose his usual uptight demeanor (too bad he never really left his office for anyone to see), and he supposed it was more productive this way. After all, he did actually have a good day.

Maybe he should do this more often.

"Hey, man-whore with the loose tie! What do you say for some celebratory, it's-finally-Friday-and-the-night-is-still-young ramen at Ichiraku's?"

Then again, maybe he shouldn't.

Naruto had popped his head from behind the door to his office, looking a bit more on the weary side, but never without the grin slathered on his face.

Sasuke gave him a patronizing stare.

"I invited Sakura too, wouldn't you like that?"

He continued to glare, and resisted wrinkling his nose. She wasn't some piece of alluring meat.

"Oh, I know. You wanted me to say that Hinata was going to come too, didn't you," he quipped, and the ends of Naruto's lips curled into a sinister smirk.

"No, that wasn't it, stupid," said Sasuke, surprised that he actually bothered to defend himself against Naruto's childishness.

"Whatever." Naruto's smile didn't leave his face, and that for some reason, irked Sasuke more than it really should have.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Sasuke, but she can't. She left already. Said she's got a last minute interview to do, or something like that."

Oh. Right. Didn't she owe him an article or something?

"Yeah, I forgot where Sakura said she was supposed to be." Naruto scrunched his face up in thought. "I think it was something about fire, and leaves…Oh yeah, that club…Leaves on Fire?"

Sasuke was right in the process of pinching the bridge of his nose, dully debating on whether it was more troublesome to concede to Naruto and actually join him or continue to resist him, until Naruto's words had left his mouth, and Sasuke's mind came to a screeching halt.

"Wait, what? Did you just say _Leaves on Fire_?"

Naruto nodded hesitantly, uncertain of how Sasuke would respond.

"Is that seriously where a girl like her should be hanging out at?!" Sasuke cursed under his breath, and hastily reached for the keys to his car.

The nightclub, although obscure, had a notorious reputation. "Whatever happens there stays there," its regular goers would whisper lewdly. They say that even the officers of Konoha would turn a blind eye to the place. It provided the security that some would need to come out of their shell, yet there were still those who would use that to their advantage in ways not so pure…

And Sasuke was sure that gullible, determined, _blind_ Hinata had been lead into trap.

"H-hey! Where're you going," Naruto shouted as Sasuke was heading out of his door at a breakneck pace.

"Sorry Naruto, but I don't think I'll be joining you and Sakura for ramen tonight."

* * *

The gulp of alcohol burned and made her eyes water and she nearly gagged on it. Hinata didn't know where she ever got the idea of using it to make herself as…gregarious as Kiba was they had gone out for dinner with Shino once and he had a saucer too many of the sake.

But Hinata was never one to be able to hold her alcohol very well, and her mind was getting all foggy, her face as heated as the atmosphere, and her skin felt like it was on fire. She couldn't tell if she was falling ill or if it was the effects of the drink (after just a sip?). Her bare arms and shoulder made her feel so exposed. Hinata unconsciously rubbed her arms.

"Cold, Hinata-chan?"

The singer beside her snaked an arm around her shoulder, but Hinata's energy was starting to suddenly leave her, and she found it very difficult to brush or squirm away from his arm.

It had all went downhill when Cloud Nine had called her name and she mustered up the courage to give him a saccharine smile and answer him in a voice that she didn't even know she had. Hinata had decided that in order to beat him, she would have to enter his arena and play his game. But one thing lead to another, from her actually accepting a seat next to him to sipping a drink that he offered her, Hinata was helpless to fight the feeling of foreboding that was lapping at her ankles. She had to get this job done quick before that feeling grew any more dangerous.

"Hinata-chan, I'd like you to meet somebody that I have known for a very long time."

He gestured to the dark-haired man that was seated on his other side. He had sick that was a sickly pale, and slits for pupils that eerily reminded Hinata of a snake. Even the way hiss of his speech made her skin crawl.

The man took Hinata's hand and pressed his lips upon it. His cold lips.

"Hello there, Miss Hinata. Quite a pleasure to meet you. My name is Orochimaru. I am the owner of Cloud Nine's modeling agency….along with owning a couple of other things.

"He's the one that got me started. I wouldn't be the star that I am today without him," Cloud Nine interjected. "What luck that we met each other tonight!"

"Ah, t-the pleasure's all mine, Orochimaru-san."

Orochimaru drank in Hinata from head to toe with his serpentine eyes, and grinned with a satisfactory smirk that made Hinata feel uneasy.

"My, what pretty eyes you have there, Hinata. The industry could use more people like you. Of course, there can be no one else like you out there."

Hinata gulped.

"Y-you're too kind."

She really needed to get this done. Now.

"Ah, um, Cloud Nine-san, we have to get started—" Hinata said, turning to the star. He made a dramatic gesture as he suddenly looked like he remembered something.

"Oh yes…That. Well, we _did_ come for business after all, isn't that right, Hinata-chan?"

He slid off the stool and bid farewell to the friends all around him, who snickered lewdly, and Hinata thought she even comments like "Be gentle, she might break!" Some also slinked off their barstool and told Cloud Nine that "we'll be seein' ya later," after giving an affirmative smirk.

"I hope you enjoy yourself, Orochimaru-sama. I'm about to go give is lovely lady an interview _to die for_. Come, Hinata-chan, I've saved us a private room, away from all this noise."

Alarms went off in Hinata's head. Somehow a private room didn't thrill Hinata. But before she knew it, Cloud Nine's hand was pushing at the small of her back up the narrow, spiraling staircase leading to the more secluded rooms that the club offered. Hinata ignored them. She was finally getting somewhere.

Cloud Nine directed her down a corridor that lead them further away from the main dance floor and crowds. She could still hear the thunderous beat of the music pound dully. Many doors lined the hallway, and when Cloud Nine had stopped in front of theirs, he slid a card key into the slot, to which the door responded with a click. He pushed the door open and flipped on the lights.

The room was not remarkable; it had the atmosphere of the rest of the club. The lighting was dim. Two loveseats were across each other, with a coffee table resting in the middle. In one corner, a bar equipped with drinks of different colors in different shaped bottles was found. In another corner, partially hidden by the shadows, a karaoke machine was stashed messily, and apparently had not yet been turned off; a blinking red light still remained. Grungy urban paintings hung on the wall.

"I know it isn't much, but I prefer that we are away from all the noise and people."

He strode across to the bar and grabbed two glasses and a bottle.

"Something more to drink, Hinata-chan?"

She shook her head, settling in the squishy loveseat. She was feeling perhaps even woozier than before. He filled the two glasses anyway.

"Fire away, my dear little Hinata."

He planted himself close to her on the loveseat. His face was only inches from hers, and she could feel the heat and alcohol radiate off of him.

"U-um, alright."

With great difficulty, she brought out her notebook and pen. She was starting to feel so tired.

"Cloud Nine, to what do you attribute your success to, and what message would you give to all the aspiring?"

"Well Hinata…You can't just make it big by just having the talent and the looks."

Hinata gave a surprised gasp as he tipped her chin up, making her look directly into his smoldering eyes.

"You have to know how to get your way around."

He scooted closer and Hinata retreated back closer again the armrest. She was trapped. His hand ran through her hair, down her neck, to her shoulder.

"C-cloud Nine-san, what are you…"

"You have to be daring."

He moved even closer until he was almost on top of her, and his hands traveled past her shoulders to the length of her body, brushing the sides of her breasts, her ribs, her hips, finally stopping where her skirt stopped on her thigh.

"S-stop…"

Her hands clawed at his, but he was too adamant, and the effect of the drink, or whatever Cloud Nine had spiked it with without Hinata's knowledge, was taking into full effect.

"And most of all, you have to be ruthless."

To her horror, his hands disappeared underneath her skirt and cupped her bottom while he kissed her hard and rough on the lips.

"Please. Stop."

Her pleas came muffled. She was helpless to defend herself, all because she was too set on keeping this job of hers and ignored all the warning signs. Now she was in danger, and no one could hear her scream. Not Naruto, not even Sasuke. Tears threatened to spill out, barely clinging on to her lashes.

"Stop. Please stop. STOP!"

Before Hinata's last dregs of energy fizzled out by the potent drug that threatened to overcome her, she recoiled her arm, gathered all her remaining strength, and delivered to Cloud Nine a swift punch to the nose.

He immediately backed off and held his nose while he yelped in pain, but she was still pinned by his body.

"YOU SLUT! You're lucky it's not broken! Where the hell did you get the energy to still fight in you, anyway? Just for that, I guess I won't let you enjoy this after all!"

He roughly tugged at her top, sliding it down and revealing creamy white skin and the swell of her breasts.

"B-but, Cloud Nine, _why_?"

"Are you stupid? Do you know what kind of blackmail material it is to be able to screw a Hyuuga?"

Hinata's eyes widened.

"That's right, I knew it all along. How you ran off and fell from grace. Do you know much the Hyuuga are trying to keep you under wraps? Now imagine, how much they would pay to keep an _embarrassing tape_ from ever seeing the lights from the shelves of stores?"

Hinata gave a horrified gasp.

"Y-you—"

"Correct again, Hinata-chan. See that blinking light over there, that's not from the karaoke! I've got guys who are real pros at filming and making movies."

Hinata winced. She would have never guessed that Cloud Nine, the singing sensation that enthralled crowds, who had girls throwing themselves at his feet and blessed with fame and fortune, could be such a vile person. Now on top of surely being fired, her family was going to be blackmailed. And then she was going to be fired. And then disowned, more ostracized from the family than she was already.

And it was all because she was too busy chasing a dream.

"Now shut up. You can try to enjoy it. I know I will, with that impressive pair," he said, as his eyes roamed over her, and Hinata would have brought her arms to cover herself, if it could only move. "And just imagine, thousands would _kill_ to be where you are right now."

Just when he was about to continue, a loud crash was hear as the door was busted down, and brighter light came filtering through.

"Don't you hate it when things don't go the way you want?"

Hinata had never felt more overjoyed to hear the voice of, and see, Uchiha Sasuke before.

Behind the singer, Sasuke held a pen, its tip poised at base of the singer's neck.

"You…You can't kill me," taunted Cloud Nine, although Hinata could notice a little quiver in his voice.

"Don't underestimate the power of the pen," said Sasuke, coolly, without ever moving an inch from the position he was in. "And most of all, don't underestimate the power of the person with the pen."

Cloud Nine only let out a low growl.

"Now get off of her."

And the other man complied and slowly stepped away, his hands up in the air as if Sasuke was pointing a gun at him.

"You won't get away with this, Uchiha Sasuke. That camera's still going, and I've got this all on tape, you know. When I get this through to Orochimaru-sama, you're de—"

"If you haven't forgotten, you are also guilty," said Sasuke, as he whipped out a small videotape from his pocket.

"You! How did you get that?"

"Your friends who wired up this room for them to watch and record all your _disgusting_ deeds were easy to beat the info out of," Sasuke snarled. "Your precious Orochimaru-sama can't help you against solid evidence."

His face then turned devious.

"I'm sure you've heard of me, and how I have the power of the press. I could have this story out and in the hands of Saturday early birds before you can say 'It wasn't me.'"

Without any means of a defense or an upper hand against Sasuke, Cloud Nine cowered and begged him not to disclose the events of what happened in this room tonight, promising to donate and fund for whatever he needed, even turning to Hinata, to which she recoiled, and consenting to do the interview that was he was supposed to do. But Sasuke's dark, piercing eyes only stared at him like he was a decaying, maggot-infested piece of flesh.

"Get away from her. She doesn't want any more of your lies."

Sasuke faced Hinata.

"Hyuuga. Fix yourself before you get some more unwanted attention. We're leaving."

Hinata quickly readjusted her disheveled clothes and wordlessly followed Sasuke out the door, casting one last glance at Cloud Nine, who was whimpering on the floor, with his head in his hands. She kept her head down at the turmoil of emotions brewing in her, nearly bumping into a man who was waiting outside the door. Hinata jogged to keep up with Sasuke's brisk pace.

Once they were finally outside and the music behind them could not overcome even a whisper, Sasuke broke the silence between them.

"Did you lose your mind, Hyuuga," he hissed furiously. "Or did you want to use your body to reel him in for your article? Because you know—"

"That's not it! I just had to do what I could…" Hinata tried to reason.

"That's no reason to run headlong into what you _know_ is a trap! You put your job over your own safety, Hyuuga, are you crazy? Why'd you do it?

"Now get in."

Hinata looked up. He was holding the door to his car open for her.

A silence blanketed them again, while Sasuke started to drive.

Hinata gripped the edge of her skirt and nervously chewed on her bottom lip. As if it wasn't already intimidating enough to be alone in a car with Uchiha Sasuke.

"I did what I could....because I don't want to go back to the Hyuuga."

Hinata looked at Sasuke expectantly, waiting for him to interject or say something. But he continued to concentrate on the road. She continued.

"As you might have known, I am supposed to be the heiress of Hyuuga Teas Corporation. But I'm not a prodigy who can run a whole company. Against their wishes, all I wanted to do was write. But they kept on fitting me to be one, as to not make me the disgrace of the prestige of Hyuuga. I couldn't take their pushing and molding and the looks anymore. So my father and I, we came up with an ultimatum that he smothered from any media attention. He would allow me a chance out of the Hyuuga if I promised to not be so disappointing in what I wanted to do. But at the first sign of a failure, he would force me back, without ever another way out."

"So then he had me moving out without much anything in my pockets. Supported by my two friends, I stayed with them, until I met Naruto. And then he introduced me to here. Here, at the famous Konoha Heat. Where 'the heat is hot, but the boss is even hotter.'

"Oh, I apologize."

Hinata had nearly let out a giggle despite what had happened tonight, but quickly smothered it with her hand. She was glad it was so dark, or else the heavy blush for her inappropriateness would have been quite visible to Sasuke. She was surprised though, at how easy it was to talk to Sasuke despite the fact that he was her boss and how intimidating he usually was.

"The point is that I did it to keep this job. And the thing that scares me the most is being sent back to the Hyuuga. If…what happened…is what it takes, then I…I will do what it takes."

After Hinata had finished talking, Sasuke still did not make any notion at a reply.

Hinata was surprised, though, when he actually stopped the car right in front of her complex.

"You're on the database, Hyuuga. I'm not stalking you."

"U-um, Uchiha-sama?"

"What?"

"Could you…could you actually not disclose the contents of that tape? It would be great trouble to me if anyone ever caught wind of what is on it."

"Fine. Consider it _our secret_, Hyuuga," Sasuke smirked that trademark cocky smirk of his.

Hinata flushed at how scandalous he had actually made it sound.

"Thank you, Uchiha-sama."

_Thank you for everything tonight._

He grunted in reply, and Hinata exited the vehicle.

"Oh, and Hyuuga?"

"U-Uchiha-sama?"

"You're not off the hook. I'm still expecting an article from you sometime soon, Hi-na-ta."

And he promptly sped off, leaving Hinata to blink and stare confoundedly at the retreating image of his sleek black car.

That meant that she still wasn't fired, right?


	7. Chapter 7

Regular disclaimers applied.

**A/N**: OKAY. Just to let everyone know, this is taken a totally different turn than I originally planned it. But not working on a story for about two years can do that to you, yeah? Anyway, thanks to all who stuck around, and if you're just joining, welcome!

* * *

Despite all speculations, Uchiha Sasuke did not favor a specific brand or distributor of coffee.

Strong. Black. And preferably inexpensive and easy to access. It was that kind of no nonsense coffee that was fitting for a no nonsense man like Sasuke.

That was the reason why he was currently located at a twenty-four hour convenience store situated only stone's throw away from the main Konoha Heat building. It was for that, and to check out the latest papers and magazines out on the rack, to keep in the loop with the current news and fellow magazine publishers.

After thrusting the clerk a few ryo for his cup of coffee, he took a quick glance at his wristwatch. Only a quarter past five in the morning. He doubted that even the earliest of birds would be there in the office this early, considering deadlines have long been dead, along with anyone who hadn't met them. Deciding that time allowed him for a less rigid schedule, Sasuke shuffled over to the magazine and newspaper rack, overlooking the cooking magazines, the magazines featuring glossy waxed cars, and the provocative magazines, and closer to more respectable reads, such as the _Konohagakure Chronicles_, the city's leading newspaper in international events. Scanning down the line, Sasuke caught sight of other local newspapers, the weekly manga, and of course the ever present _Konoha Heat_. No headline, however, had piqued his interest enough to actually pick up and flip through the magazine.

Until he came across a picture of a rather familiar face plastered on the cover. Sasuke froze in mid-sip of his coffee, and resisted the urge to spray it all across the cover when he read the headline.

"_CLOUD NINE NOT SO HEAVENLY WITH LIQUOR," _it read in bold, glaringly yellow letter on the front, "_LEADS ON INNOCENT WITH NOT SO INNOCENT INTENTIONS."_

In the featured photo underneath the name of the magazine, _The Viper_, Cloud Nine, looking desperate and reaching out, clawing almost, at a figure that looked like a woman's but her face was blurred out. However, to Sasuke, the long, raven hair was unmistakably belonged to somebody he knew…

Putting his coffee aside, he hastily grabbed the nearest copy and flipped the pages fast enough to seem like he was going to rip the magazine to the cover story. He didn't have to flip much, because after only a couple pages, he found it.

The article was written by a certain "K. Viper," titled "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" and had three corresponding pictures: one with Cloud Nine chatting to his friends (whose faces were also blurred out), another was the same one on the cover, and the last was one of Cloud Nine looking utterly ruined, his hands nursing his head and harboring a cigarette.

Sasuke quickly skimmed the article, which spanned nearly four pages, looking for a name he might have known. Words such as "partied too far" and "perhaps had a bit much to drink", passed by as he shot through the article, but thankfully, no names that he knew appeared. According to the article, the woman that the singer assaulted was just referred to as "a hapless victim, unaware of how (un)well Cloud Nine could carry his booze."

Already so early in the morning, a dull pain thudded at the base of the young editor-in-chief's skull. If things got out of hand, there would be much damage control to be done, especially for the "hapless victim." Exactly who the hell could have gotten their hands on this leak? Of course, it was certainly valuable; what publishing company _wouldn't_ want to get their hands on such a defamation of a popular star? And, Sasuke noted, glancing up and down the magazine and newspaper rack again, it seemed that only _The Viper_ had the inside scoop on it. Sasuke didn't recall seeing anybody else in the room. And Cloud Nine wouldn't be an idiot enough to purposefully shoot himself and suicide his fame, would he? And most of all, Sasuke _knew_ Cloud Nine wouldn't be foolish enough to let leak about his little fiasco, because Sasuke would be all over him like a bad rash.

Apparently, someone had beaten him to the punch.

The magazine was starting to crumple underneath the pressure of his grip. Sighing, he rolled it up and tossed a few coins of ryo to the bored clerk. Sasuke took a large gulp of the now lukewarm coffee to try ebbing away the tension on his mind, tossed away the empty cup, and headed, in large, cool strides, outside of the convenience store, hands stuffed deep in his pockets, the rolled up paper pinned between his arm and his side.

* * *

When Sasuke returned to the building, it was still empty. Save for the presence of Naruto and Sakura, whose noses were currently buried deep into the latest issue of _The Viper_. The very same issue he had pinned right under his arm. He gritted his teeth.

_Oh shit._

"'It is unknown whether or not the victim will press charges, but who would have ever thought that behind such a smile lies such lewd thoughts? Only time will tell if the public still thinks he is deserving of the adoration he receives, or if he should be branded a menace,'" Sakura's voice was constant as read the final sentences of the article, and flipped closed the pages.

The pound of a fist on wood cut through the quiet floor. "That bastard! I knew he was too good to be true. There's always something fishy about guys who are way too pretty. I mean, look at him! I bet he waxes his hair and polishes his teeth to make it that shiny. I'm telling you, it's just not natural," Naruto angrily ranted, until his eyes snapped open at a sudden realization. "H-hey wait, w-wasn't Hinata supposed to be with him last night? Y-you—you don't think…" his voice was anxious and filled with worry.

Sakura's face screwed up in thought. "Well, I did call her later last night, but she told me she was fine, although she didn't get her article done…"

"She's fine," Sasuke cut in. "She left before that guy—" Sasuke roughly gestured his head over to the picture of Cloud Nine on the front of the magazine, his voice tinged with disgust"—got to her. I…found her, wandering around the bar of the club. Wasn't able to find him. So I gave her an extension." It was only half a lie, but it was still half a truth. Half a truth was good enough for Sasuke.

Naruto and Sakura blinked and didn't say anything for second, registering all that Sasuke just said, but when Sakura said "Alright, if you say so," Sasuke was satisfied that they were convinced.

"But Hinata's usually here by now," Sakura remarked as she peer at the clock on the wall. "She said she was fine yesterday night…"

"Not everyone comes to work on Saturday, Sakura," Naruto huffed, muttering something about slave drivers and days when it should be illegal to have to work.

Sakura's green eyes flashed. "What was that, Naruto?"

The sound of Sakura's knuckles cracking was enough to make Naruto quash all thoughts of behavioral misdemeanors. "Nothing, Sakura! Just saying that Hinata probably wanted a bit more sleep today, that's all! Besides, if anything did happen to her, I'll call her up later to check up on her."

Very few people show up to work on Saturday, especially when it's a Saturday after a deadline. Only a handful showed up to the building, but they were only there to straighten and pick up some loose papers and drafts. Hinata was the type to show up every day, rain or shine, hours before anyone shows up.

So when ten o' clock hit and Hinata's seat was still empty, Naruto picked up the phone and dialed her number. Sakura and Sasuke were busy reading the latest articles that had been delivered in Sasuke's office when Naruto barged in and announced that Hinata was okay, but she said she was feeling a little under the weather, and if you asked him, she did sound like she had the sniffles and her voice sounded weird if not a bit croaky. If he didn't know any better, Naruto would say that Hinata had been _crying_ for the last few hours. But well, with the city of Konoha being notorious for aggravating allergies, especially during this season, it made everybody with bad allergies want to cry.

Sakura's initial response to that was, "Oh, I wonder if I should bring her over something. I've got this great concoction that I made myself for allergies…." To which Naruto replied, "You mean the one that nearly killed me last spring? Woman, your stuff is deadly!" Leading to Sakura fuming and Naruto running circles all around Sasuke's office, cackling with glee.

Sasuke's initial thought was _Naruto, you idiot_. Not only because he was being a brat and acting like his age divided by four, but because if it had been anybody else talking to Hinata on the phone, somebody with some tact and maybe a little _common sense_, they'd be able to tell that Hinata had indeed been crying. The question of why she was crying might have been a little harder to discern, but as to _if_ she had been crying shouldn't have been too difficult. But to Naruto's defense, he had always been a bit on the slow side, especially to reading another person's feelings, so Sasuke supposed he couldn't blame him; they're supposed to be used to it, after all.

Sasuke quietly rose from his seat. "Naruto, stop. I am going to overlook your horrendous ability to spell this once, because I need you to take over looking over these for me."

Sakura had finally caught up to Naruto, her fist about to connect with his blond head, and Naruto was in mid-struggle, when they both froze at his words.

"What? Where are you going?" Naruto called after Sasuke, who had his hands already on the door handle, swinging it open.

"Urgent meeting. Just remembered. Don't know when I'll be back."

"Okay, fine, be that way. How about you don't come back at all?" Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke's back.

"And Sakura, I need you to call up the people at the Viper. Tell them to free up some time for me."

"Got it." She nodded firmly. Sakura didn't bother to question Sasuke, the determined edge in his voice was enough to tell her that he didn't need anyone asking him twice about what he planned to do, whatever he planned to do.

"Oh, and don't forget to tell Naruto: should he ever come across it, penis is spelled with an 'i'. It was spelled wrong when he scribbled it all across my computer screen in marker."

The door behind Sasuke closed soundly, and only muffled screeching could be heard from behind it.

* * *

Sasuke rapped his knuckles on the door of apartment number 318, and waited.

The apartment complex was by no means a shabby place. Not extravagant enough to be called ritzy and have plush carpets and elevators lined with marble, but it was still nothing to sneeze at. In fact, they even had a young, if not pimple-faced, nicely dressed receptionist at the concierge. One that got all up on Sasuke's case when he inquired on the whereabouts of Hinata's apartment, eyeing him with high suspicion and asking him if "he had any real business with Miss Hinata," and if he was the one who sent her rushing back upstairs this morning in tears. If Sasuke didn't know any better, he'd say somebody had a crush.

Kid needed to set his sights on somebody that wasn't out of his league.

Well. At least _somebody_ would look after her nicely.

Sasuke waited for another second, and was about to pound on the door for good measure, until he heard the clacking of the door being unbolted shut and the lock being twisted. The heavy door opened, with Hinata just barely peeking out from behind it. She was dressed as if she had every intention this morning to go to the Konoha Heat building, and it appeared that she had splashed some water and dabbed herself with a towel to clean up some of the tears, the reason for the delay in opening the door. But the telltale signs were there; her eyes were still red and puffy, face all splotchy.

"O-oh, Uchiha-sama," Hinata sniffled a little. "P-please, come in."

He stepped inside, surveying his surroundings. It was organized, clean, and not without some homely touches. Corners decorated with plants. A squishy couch with a simple coffee table with a neat stack of home keeping and gardening magazines underneath the glass, in the center of the room. A large window that allowed quite a view on the wall over to his right. He strode over to the window, gazing out at the bustling city below, his hands in his pockets.

"Would you like some tea?" Hinata asked, her voice soft and her head still bowed at an angle, refusing to look at Sasuke's face.

"No. Just sit."

Somebody else might have been offended at being ordered around in her own house, but Hinata quickly obliged, her hands clasped at her knees, almost she if she was trying to bring them closer to curl up in.

"You saw, didn't you? You saw the morning's papers."

Hinata's breath hitched. . So that's what he was here for. Her mind jolted back to the nightmare, the cover and article that could very near bring her to ruins. What if she was recognized? What if some more digging and bribery was done, leading to her exposure? She was sure that all who kept up with the business of Cloud Nine, which was pretty much a good half of the people in this city, was curious to know who this 'hapless victim' was.

As if almost being forced wasn't enough. Hinata pushed back the tears that threatened to spill.

"I…I did."

"I want you to know," he said slowly, purposefully. He wanted Hinata to fully understand. "I had no doing in it."

"I know."

"And I want you to know, it didn't mention you at all."

"I know."

Sasuke spun around on his heel and marched over to the forlorn figure that was Hinata, her head still bowed, her dark hair curtaining her face. He stood looming over her.

"Then…?"

"I…I don't know how long it will stay that way. How long will it be before my name does end up on the front page, Uchiha-sama?" Hinata whispered. Her head turned aside, to a spot of carpet to the left of Sasuke's black shoes, its image blurry, her tears barely clinging to her lashes. "I should have never left the Hyuuga," she said even more softly that it almost didn't reach Sasuke's ears.

At this, Hinata was a bit taken aback to hear Sasuke let out a little scoff. He wasn't…belittling her pains, was he?

"Nobody ever regrets working under _Konoha Heat_. And I'll see to it that you're not the first one, Hyuuga."

At the sound of her surname, Hinata peered up to look at Sasuke's face, for the first time ever since he stepped into her abode, to search for some sort of meaning to his words in his face. However, the only thing she caught when she looked up was a face full of cloth. A handkerchief was dangling in between Sasuke's fingers.

"Take it. You look better when you're not sobbing your eyes out."

Hinata hesitantly accepted his offer of his handkerchief. She supposed this was his means of comforting someone. It was…certainly not mean in any way, but it wasn't everybody's definition of nice, either. Just like that time he just tossed her his jacket to walk out in the rain with. In his own distant, cold way, he was being _comforting_. It would seem that Sasuke was one of the rare people who could pull it off. Or maybe it was just the _only_ way he could pull it off.

He was now heading towards the door and letting himself out, but before closing the door, said, "I expect to see you back Monday, Hyuuga."

Sasuke was gone before Hinata could even begin to form a reply.

* * *

It wasn't that the publishing building of _The Viper_ was a sinister place, it only emitted that sort of aura as Sasuke approached the glass doors tinted pitch-black under a cavernous opening that seemed to swallow its entrants. It was of granite black, and Sasuke doubted much anyone could miss the structure as it displayed the title of the papers for which it housed in gargantuan letters, glowing red even in the light of the sun. The burlesque security guard who stood at the entrance after he entered glared harshly at him, but Sasuke made no move of even noticing him, striding past the man as if he were only a mere statue.

The receptionist at the front desk was a girl by the name of Kin, as her name plate stated, who had chemically damaged hair and wore too much eyeliner. She smiled a sickeningly sweet smile that, Sasuke felt, belied a character nothing short of the word _bitchy_.

"How may I help you, s—"

"Yes, you can help me by not wasting my time, and taking me to the man who runs this place."

Kin's eyes flashed and her smile faltered a little, but her voice never lost its jarring perk. "I'm sorry, that's not possible at present, as Orochimaru-sama has currently gone off to lunch," she said, glancing at the digital desk clock sitting on the counter. According to the clock, it was currently eighteen past three.

The sound of hands slamming on marble could be heard, and the next moment, Kin found her face dangerously close to Sasuke's face that looked none too happy. "Look. I know you're not a stupid girl, and I'm sure as hell you know I'm not a stupid man. So you go call up your boss and tell him he's late for his three o' clock meeting and he needs to get back before he finds his staff a whole floor short. And you and I both know I can live up that threat. You don't want that on your hands, do you?"

At this, Kin's face fell completely, and he regarded Sasuke with hard eyes before conceding. "Very well," she said, her voice wavering only once, and proceeded to pick up the phone.

She had only the chance to punch in the first three numbers before entrance door burst open, allowing the city noise to flood in.

The security guard had bowed to the newcomer with reverence, and greeted him with "Welcome back, Orochimaru-sama." But again, he was ignored, because the first thing that caught the man's eye was none other than Sasuke.

"Sasuke," he said with languid pleasure, his voice like oil. "To what do I owe the pleasure? Usually it is I who chases after you. Imagine seeing you right in my lobby!"

Sasuke did not return his repulsive glee that almost seemed like a child's. "Cut the bull. You're late. You know you're late. You and I both have business to do."

"Hm, so I am." Orochimaru did not return Sasuke's fire. "If you insist on a talk, you must come up to my office. I wouldn't want to bother my hard working staff." Orochimaru brushed past Sasuke to the elevators. "Eighth floor. I trust that you'll find me. I'll be waiting," he said with a playful chuckle that ran ice through Sasuke's veins. What did he think this was, a game of cat and mouse? Sasuke certainly wouldn't be surprised if that was so.

The eighth floor was lined with endless doors, and the corridor was completely soundless, save for the billowing climate controller. Over at Konoha Heat, although everybody knew Sasuke was tough, but the staff was still able chat and banter (it was mostly at Naruto and Sakura's insistence it be kept like so). At The Viper, the silence was almost eerie and suffocating. It was almost like some prison.

Sasuke passed countless doors, at the very end of the corridor, was an office different than all the other rooms, marked with double doors and golden plate with Orochimaru's name emblazoned on it. He gripped the handle and flung the door open, revealing Orochimaru at his desk in the very center of the room, feet propped up on his desk and smug grin smeared on his face.

"So, what brings Uchiha Sasuke from the popular _Konoha Heat_ down to a little place like this?"

"Orochimaru, we know that _The Viper_ and _Konoha Heat_ are two of the top provider for entertainment news. _You_ just tend to be a little popular because you tend to gather shady details and bring many celebrities to ruin without much thought," Sasuke said, not without a tinge of bitterness.

Orochimaru did not giggle or laugh or chuckle, nor did he make any reaction in reply to Sasuke's words. But his face lost the playful mirth that a predator gets as it toys with its prey. "So I do. Tell me, Uchiha Sasuke, do you have a problem with anything that comes out of my building? I assure you, I've yet to mention anything particularly embarrassing about you."

"Actually, I do have a bone to pick with you." Sasuke whipped out the morning's copy of _The Viper_ from the inner breast pocket of his jacket and held it out clear for Orochimaru to behold. "This. I want this off and gone from every shelf and newspaper rack by tomorrow. And I want you to back off and stop poking around."

The anger that Sasuke had been suppressing ever since he entered the building flared when he saw the corner of Orochimaru's mouth curl deviously, and he steeled himself for an uphill battle that could prove to be costly, knowing this man.

"Sasuke-_kun_," he crooned, and at this, Sasuke nearly failed to resist a shudder. "You are simply asking for the impossible. Surely as a publisher you know hard it is to take back words?"

"Yes, but knowing you, there's a price tag for _everything_."

"My, Sasuke-kun, I had no idea you were one for bribery."

"No, but I know for a fact that _you_ aren't, and neither are your staff. And that makes them second-rate writers only good for mudslinging and libel."

Orochimaru's face drained of all its mirth, and he planted his feet from his desk to firmly on the ground to better regard Sasuke. Sasuke a bit satisfied to see a bit of emotion getting riled up behind his slitted eyes. He was baring all his claws, and if Orochimaru was a man, he would do the same.

"Now name your price, Orochimaru. And don't give me any shit."

Orochimaru's voice shifted to a low, dangerous tone. "As you wish. My price is simple: I want your Hyuuga heiress."

Sasuke swallowed. "Not happening. What else do you have?"

"I don't see why you have to make this so complicated, Sasuke. She's of no real use to you, am I correct?"

"Better than letting you exploit her."

"Now, Sasuke, just think of it like I am keeping an eye on her."

"How will I know you're not pawning off all information on her over to her family? Or better yet, going to ship her back to her family for a nice ryo or two?"

Sasuke knew that Orochimaru was feigning his innocence by looking scandalized at the suggestion at such a thought.

"All birds have to return to their cage. Or else they get _clipped_."

Something with the way Orochimaru said his sentence did not sit well with Sasuke. He stared down at _The Viper_, the picture of the woe begotten Cloud Nine on the magazine cover gleaming back at him. Sasuke had still yet to figure out how news of the scandal had could have gotten out so fast. Who could be so perfectly positioned to be able to catch what happened in the room yesterday night to be able to get it published only a few hours after? It had to be someone very intimate with Cloud Nine, able to know all his mechanisms and plans, and able to access the printers very easily, bypassing the editors.

"Orochimaru…you…you were the one who sold out Cloud Nine, weren't you?"

"Guilty as charged, _Sasuke-kun._" The smirk had returned on Orochimaru's face, and at the same time, Sasuke could feel the color draining from his face.

"So…so you know everything…"

"Correct again! And I can divulge everything, unless you give her up. Don't you see? I withheld her name, knowing that somebody would come to her rescue, be her _white knight_, just like _you_ were last night."

Sasuke's hands clenched his hands tight and hard, releasing only when he felt moisture, and glancing down, he saw his hands stained crimson. It was unbelievable that Orochimaru would toy around with lives like this, even using rising stars like Cloud Nine. And now he was poised to ruin another person's life. It was almost frightening how unhesitant he was, willing to sell celebrities and VIPs at the drop of a hat. The situation seemed hopeless. And Sasuke was here feeling hopeless for Hinata, who had no idea of any this.

"I'll tell you what; I won't reveal her name in _The Viper_."

Sasuke broke from his thoughts when Orochimaru spoke again. "What? You won't?"

"Where would be the fun in that? Her family would swoop down and lock her up forever, and what would I get? No, even for someone in a business like this, I know it is sometimes better to keep quiet."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "What's the catch? You always did like playing with your food."

If it was possible, Orochimaru's serpentine grin grew even wider. "You know me too well, Sasuke. In return for my _generous silence_, for a month, I would like you to indulge me in some information on her—"

"Female, twenty-two, not listed as married."

"Amusing, but not quite what I was looking for. Relax, Sasuke, it's relatively painless. For a month, I want the scoop on her: history, what she is currently up to, and did you know it's a real mystery as to why she ever left Hyuuga in the first place? In return, I will keep quiet, _and_ I will pull all printed copies in the city and you won't be able to find a single one still on the racks tomorrow morning. This whole fiasco will then eventually blow over in a month or two. Certainly very nice, wouldn't you say so?"

"What…will you do with what you get?"

"Small articles here and there. Only in _The Viper_, of course. Very brief, and besides, no one will notice anyway. It isn't as if Hyuuga Hinata has been very high on the public radar. Do we have a deal?"

Sasuke's couldn't help but feel this was like negotiating with devil.

Like he couldn't fucking win.

* * *

Strong and black. That was the kind of coffee that was currently rushing into his mouth, scalding membranes and tissue, but it was exactly the kind of drink he needed to keep him running today.

Soft knocking against his door pierced the silence of his office. He could only guess one person who would knock like that. Naruto would simply barge in. Sakura would give three firm taps just to alert him before walking in. Others would just call his name from behind the door, usually pleading with him to open up to receive treats they had so lovingly purchased for him. And the few others—they just avoided his office altogether.

He could only guess one person because after all, he did _personally_ ask for her.

"Come in."

As expected, Hyuuga Hinata emerged from behind the door, and Sasuke thought that the burn in his mouth from the coffee was only a fraction of what he was going to do to Hinata.

"Uchiha-sama." She bowed deeply. "Did you ask for me?"

"I did, Hyuuga. Listen. We both know that you skimped out on your last assignment. I know I gave you an extension, but I'm willing to make a deal."

Those last six words were bitterer than his coffee. Compared to them, his coffee might as well been doused with all the packets of sugar and containers of creamer in the whole _building_.

She only nodded and continued to listen in rapt attention.

"I have to be fair, and I can't just let you walk away like that."

From under his desk, Sasuke pulls out a small video camera, a good size to hold, and not too cumbersome.

"I need you to record your days for a month on this. Record or write. Either one. That's it. Do you understand?"

Hinata blinked for a second, and for a second, Sasuke thought Hinata was going to start firing questions at him.

"Yes, I understand. It's only fair."

Sasuke let out a breath he never knew he was holding, and focused back on the papers in front of him to drown out that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "That's it, Hyuuga. Now get back to work."

Hinata had started out his office before she turned around to face him again.

"Oh, and Uchiha-sama? Thank you. Thank you again. It was you, wasn't it? It was you who somehow got rid of all the magazines."

Sasuke looked up from the papers that he wasn't actually reading through anyway, and she was right there, in front of his desk, her mouth carved into the sweetest smile, and she was beaming at him, with such gratefulness and joy that he could have sworn it was something like love.

He swallowed. Hard.

"Just…just making sure you get your work done, Hyuuga."

* * *

**A/N**: I honestly think I'm starting to veer off of characterizations. Um. That would probably be due to not being involved in the Naruto fandom for the last two years.


End file.
